1  =^r 

8  — " 

6  

] 

ill 

■iii, 

1 

ALBANY 
ACADEMY    FOR    GIRLS 


Founded  1814 


AS 


ALBANY     FEMALE     ACADEMY 


CENTENNIAL    CELEBRATION 

JUNE  1,   1914 


ALBANY,  N.  Y. 
PUBLISHED  BY  THE  ALUMNAE 
1914 


Fort  Orange  Press 

The  Brandow  Printing  Company 

1914 


U15 

^ 


Albany  Academy  for  Girls 
1814—1914 

Grace  Perry 
The  Reverend  Eben  S.  Stearns,  principal  of  the  Academy  at 
the  celebration  of  her  semi-centennial,  began  his  historical 
sketch  for  the  occasion  by  noting  that  at  the  opening  of  the 
Academy  in  1814  the  country  was  at  war:  that,  in  much  more 
terrible  form,  1864  found  her  again  absorbed  in  the  endless 
horror  of  strife.  The  present  sketch  was  to  have  been  pre- 
faced by  a  heartfelt  Thank  God  that  a  second  fifty  years  had 
put  us  beyond  even  the  fear  of  blood.  But — 1814,  1864 
and  1914,  and  are  we  still  to  dream  only  of  a  land  whose 
inhabitants  shall  have  ceased  to  learn  war  any  more? 

There   must    have  been   many    little   girls   in   America   in 

1814  who  needed  better  school  advantages  than  their  towns 

afforded,  but  to  none  of  them  did  it  fall  to  be  the  occasion 

for  a   new  undertaking  save   to   Lucretia,  the   daughter  of 

g   Ebenezer  Foot.     It  is  always  easy  to  credit  special  blindness 

\^  or  special  vision  to  acts  one  hundred  years  old,  but  it  can 

o  scarcely  be   claimed  that   Mr  and   j\Irs   Foot  looked   furtiicr 

^  into  an  educational   future  than   the  very  natural  desire  for 

the   immediate   wellbeing  of  an  only  child.     Far-sighted   for 

^  eight  year  old  Lucretia  they  certainly  were,  but  no  thought 

IT 

-    for  the  complicated  higher  education  of  another  century  can 

=^    have  disturbed  their  simple  plans.     .And   because  the  scIkioI 

rose,  not  from  caprice  nor  ostentation,  but  from  the  actual 

h      needs  of  the  time,  it  grew  constantly  to  meet  those  needs  as 

3 

42C829 


Albany  Academy  for  Girls 

they  grew,  and  has  been  ever  since  adapting  itself  to  the 
requirements  of  each  advancing  day. 

After  due  canvassing  of  the  situation,  twenty-three  other 
interested  fathers  promised  for  one  year,  to  pay  to  Mr  Foot, 
as  treasurer,  the  sum  of  twenty-four  dollars  for  each  "  female 
scholar "  they  should  send  to  the  "  Little  Seminary ",  and 
with  tliat,  the  Union  School  in  Montgomery  street  was  fairly 
launched.  That  Mr  Foot  was  considered  even  then  the  real 
founder  of  the  institution  seems  clear  from  the  fact  that  at 
his  death,  July  21,  1814,  on  the  closing  day  of  the  first 
quarter,  all  examinations  and  exercises  which  would  have 
constituted  the  first  commencement  were  omitted  in  his  honor. 
A  biographical  notice  of  Ebenezer  Foot,  deceased,  contains 
this  paragraph :  "  The  principal  motive  of  Air  Foot,  no 
doubt,  was  to  establish  a  good  female  school  in  his  neighbor- 
hood, to  which  he  might  send  his  daughter.  If  this  was  his 
sole  motive,  it  was  a  good  one.  But  whatever  the  motive, 
whether  to  qualify  his  own  daughter,  or  those  of  his  neigh- 
bors and  friends,  for  the  duties  of  American  ladies,  or  more 
expansive  still,  to  elevate  and  adorn  the  female  character, 
and  store  the  female  mind  with  useful  knowledge,  his  name 
should  be  kindly  remembered  by  every  pupil,  who  has  or 
may  enjoy  the  benefits  of  the  institution,  and  by  every  friend 
of  female  education." 

The  ine'xpensive  one  story  building  erected  in  1814  was, 
during  the  next  three  years,  enlarged  by  the  addition  of  a 
second  story,  and  a  second  department  was  created,  which 
necessitated  one  or  more  assistants  to  aid  in  the  work  of 
instruction.  On  the  sixteenth  day  of  February,  1821,  by  act 
of  legislative  incorporation  the  school  took  the  name  of 
Albany  Female  Academy,  under  the  control  of  a  distinguished 

4 


Cextexnial  Celebration 

board  of  trustees,  of  whom  Chancellor  Kent  was  the  first 
president.  These  gentlemen  immediately  proved  their  fitness 
for  the  position  by  taking  measures  to  procure  subscriptions 
for  a  new  building.  On  June  twenty-fifth,  1821,  a  procession 
of  trustees,  teachers  and  pupils  marched  to  a  spot  a  little 
below  the  site  of  the  first  building,  and  the  corner  stone, 
now  in  the  study  hall  of  the  Academy,  was  laid.  The  parch- 
ment discovered  in  its  sealed  bottle  when  the  present  railroad 
station  was  built  in  1899,  records  this  statement:  "This 
stone  is  laid  in  the  fear  of  Jehovah,  the  God  of  Knowledge, 
and  commended  to  his  protection  and  favor." 

Three  thousand  dollars  and  ninety-six  cents  were  sufficient 
to  pay  for  this  building  and  equip  it  for  one  hundred  and 
twenty  pupils,  but  it  was  outgrown  at  the  end  of  seven  more 
years  and  in  1828  an  addition  was  erected  in  the  roar  of  the 
main  edifice  and  connected  with  it  by  corridors.  Xo  picture 
of  either  of  these  buildings  being  found,  ]\Irs  Mary  Kent 
Stone  drew  from  memory  the  earlier  one,  with  the  color 
as  she  recalled  it,  for  the  chart  sent  by  the  school  to  the 
Columbian  Exposition.  Another  alumna  whose  school  days 
were  spent  in  the  second  building,  supi)lied  the  information 
which  enabled  Professor  Morgan  to  paint  that  also  for  the 
chart.  Her  description  of  the  interior  arrangements  and  fur- 
nishing is  all  that  we  have  from  which  to  reconstruct  the 
rooms. 

"  On  the  first  floor  of  the  building  was  the  Fourth  Dejiart- 
ment,  the  youngest  pupils.  The  entrance  to  it  was  directly 
opposite  that  of  the  building.  The  furniture  consisted  of  a 
number  of  small,  yellow  wooden  chairs,  a  table  and  two  or 
three  larger  chairs,  a  small  blackboard,  and  a  frame  with 
wires,    on    which    were    strung    small    colored    Ixilis.      These 

5 


Albany  Academy  for  Girls 

were  used  to  teach  the  children  the  first  lessons  in  numera- 
tion, as  by  moving  them  on  the  wires  they  saw  that  one  and 
one  make  two,  etc.  This  room  occupied  the  whole  main 
floor  excepting  a  narrow  hall  on  the  north  side.  The  stairs 
leading  to  the  second  floor  were  at  the  north  side  of  the  front 
doors.  The  first  few  steps  at  right  angles  with  the  front 
wall,  led  to  a  broad  landing,  with  a  large  window  in  front. 
From  this  a  smaller  flight  of  steps  led  up  to  the  second  floor, 
which  was  divided  like  the  one  below,  into  one  large  room 
and  a  hall.  This  hall  had  a  window  at  the  east  or  back  end, 
and  was  furnished  with  hooks  for  hanging  cloaks,  etc. 

"  The  furniture  of  the  room  was  unlike  that  in  the  lower 
room,  and  probably  few,  if  any,  of  the  present  generation 
have  seen  its  like.  The  desks,  or  what  was  called  by  that 
name,  consisted  of  a  wooden  structure,  in  form  like  the  top 
of  a  desk,  but  built  firmly  against  the  wall.  Under  this  a 
shelf  about  two-thirds  as  wide,  not  enclosed,  but  entirely 
open  to  dust,  or  to  the  inspection  of  the  inquisitive,  w^as  the 
sole  receptacle  for  books  or  other  belongings. 

"  In  front  of  this  structure,  at  such  distance  apart  as  to 
leave  about  twenty-four  to  twenty-six  inches  of  table  for 
each  student,  were  seats,  also  built  fast,  and  immovable.  Two 
upright  boards  were  screwed  to  the  floor,  and  upon  these  was 
a  solid  piece  of  wood  about  twelve  by  fifteen  inches.  On 
these  seats  we  sat  all  day,  the  tall  and  the  short,  each  one's 
seat  at  the  same  distance  from  the  desk,  just  as  high  as  her 
neighbor's  and  just  as  hard.  When  a  class  was  called  to 
recitation  we  simply  turned  around  in  our  seats  to  face  the 
teacher.  A  table  three  feet  wide  and  five  long,  a  large  wood 
stove  and  a  blackboard,  completed  the  furniture  of  the  room. 

6 


Centennial  Celebration 

"  The  third  floor,  occupied  by  the  Second  Department,  was 
in  every  way  precisely  like  the  second. 

"  Adjoining  the  broad  steps  in  the  main  entrance  was  a 
door,  and  a  stairway  leading  to  the  basement.  At  the  foot 
of  this  stairway  was  a  water  pipe  with  faucet,  and  if  anyone 
thirsted,  this  was  the  only  source  of  relief.  The  basement 
was  fitted  up  for  a  dwelling  for  the  janitor,  and  had  very 
comfortable  rooms. 

"  A  new  two-story  building  was  added,  and  the  whole  of 
the  upper  floor  was  in  one  room,  excepting  a  narrow  hall, 
which  was  used  like  those  in  the  other  building,  for  hanging 
cloaks,  hats,  etc.  This  room  was  used  by  the  First  Depart- 
ment and  was  furnished  with  movable  desks  and  chairs.  It 
had  windows  at  both  east  and  west,  and  was,  of  course,  well 
lighted  and  well  aired.  The  desks  occupied  only  about  lialf 
the  room,  which  was  used  as  a  chapel  and  for  examinations 
and  commencement  exercises.  As  it  was  not  large  enough 
to  accommodate  a  great  number  of  people,  only  the  friends 
of  the  graduating  class  were  invited  to  the  commencement 
exercises.  These,  with  the  different  examining  committees, 
and  the  First  Department,  filled  the  room,  and  no  pupils  from 
the  lower  departments  could  be  admitted. 

"  The  lower  floor  of  the  rear  building  was  divided  into 
two  rooms.  One  of  these  was  called  the  library  and  con- 
tained the  few  books  belonging  to  the  institution,  and  the 
few  pieces  of  apparatus  for  philosophical  and  chemical  experi- 
ments, and  a  large  library  table.  The  smaller  room  was  the 
Trustees'  room,  and  used  for  general  business." 

Here  for  thirteen  years,  in  an  aristocratic  part  of  the  city, 
with  trustees  of  unusual  importance,  with  principals  gradu- 
ated  from   Union   and   Harvard,  the  daughters  of   Albany's 

7 


Albany  Academy  for  Girls 

most  substantial  citizens  gathered  daily  to  receive  instruction 
in  solid  branches  of  learning.  As  early  as  1827  the  state 
testified  its  appreciation  of  the  character  of  work  done,  by 
placing  the  school  under  "  the  visitation  and  control  "  of  the 
Board  of  Regents,  as  the  first  school  for  girls  admitted  to 
this  consideration. 

Certainly  where  "  the  philosophies  ",  logic,  Biblical  antiqui- 
ties, elements  of  criticism,  and  evidences  of  Christianity 
occupied  a  prominent  place  in  the  curriculum  it  can  never 
be  said  that  "  solid  "  subjects  were  lacking.  The  announce- 
ment of  the  beginning  of  the  school  year  in  183 1  contains 
the  statement,  "  The  trustees  do  not  consider  the  merely 
ornamental  branches  as  forming  any  part  in  the  course  of 
education  established  by  them."  French  and  Spanish  were 
taught,  however,  and  the  closing  examinations  of  1835  were 
lightened  by  fancy  articles  of  needlework  and  an  exhibition 
of  drawings  "  highly  finished,  many  of  them  from  nature  ", 
so  the  gentlemen  may  not  have  interpreted  too  strictly  the 
word  '*  ornamental  ". 

In  1826,  to  the  list  of  principals — Horace  Goodrich,  early 
worn  out  by  the  double  labor  of  law  and  teaching;  Edwin 
James,  "  a  worthy  young  man,  but  evidently  lacking  in  some 
of  the  essentials  of  his  office  " ;  Lebbeus  Booth,  "  well  edu- 
cated, highminded  and  honorable " ;  Frederick  Matthews, 
"  refined,  urbane,  and  of  elevated  Christian  character  ",  was 
added  the  name  of  Alonzo  Crittenden,  and  he  at  once  began 
a  strong  and  wise  administration.  The  extraordinary  success 
of  the  institution  during  his  term  of  service,  1826- 1845,  was 
undoubtedly  due  in  large  measure  to  his  perfect  control  of 
each  detail  of  the  management.  Public  oral  examinations 
which  lasted  well  through  the  "8o's.  were  introduced  by  him, 

8 


Centexxial  Celebratiox 

and  through  the  columns  of  an  early  Argus  we  learn,  among 
other  facts,  that  by  1833  the  usual  dependence  on  textbooks 
as  the  principal  means  of  instruction,  was  an  outworn  custom 
in  the  Academy. 

"  The  year  1835  is  marked  by  the  origin  of  the  custom  of 
teachers  and  pupils  meeting  in  the  Academy  and  going  in 
procession  to  a  church  to  hear  the  reports  of  committees, 
and  to  witness  the  awarding  of  premiums  to  those  who  had 
distinguished  themselves  in  any  department  of  study."  Since 
we  have  spoken  of  these  annual  ceremonies  we  may  fairly  in 
this  place  trace  their  development  to  the  present  time.  From 
1828,  when  the  new  hall  was  added  to  the  second  building, 
commencement  was  for  several  years  held  there.  The  first 
church  service  was  in  the  Baptist  church,  on  Pearl  street, 
south  of  Maiden  Lane.  In  1836  the  Old  South  Dutch  church 
was  used.  For  many  years,  beginning  with  i860,  commence- 
ments were  held  in  the  Congregational  church.  One  reads 
of  a  June  day  in  1862  when  led  by  Principal  Stearns,  two 
hundred  and  fifty  girls,  in  white,  marched  from  the  Academy 
across  State  street  and  down  South  Pearl  to  Beaver  street. 
In  1868  commencement  was  held  in  Tweddle  Hall.  The 
report  of  1878  describes  exercises  in  the  cha])el  of  the 
Academy,  but  in  the  early  '8o's  the  Second  Presbyterian 
church  began  to  echo  annually  the  wisdom  of  "  graduating 
essays  ".  They  were  nine  in  number  in  1894.  but  were 
reduced  the  next  year  to  a  valedictory,  salutatory,  and  one 
other.  The  last  exercise  in  the  church  wa>  in  189*;,  when, 
conforming  to  the  more  modern  idea,  Dr  James  II.  Ecob, 
unassisted  by  members  of  the  class,  made  the  first  commence- 
ment address.    Usage  has  now  established  the  custom,  begun 

9 


Albany  Academy  for  Girls 

in  IQCXD,  of  meeting  for  all  such  occasions  in  the  study  hall 
and  in  the  morning. 

Mr  Crittenden  had  been  conducting  the  school  in  his 
brilliant  if  somewhat  irascible  way,  for  eight  years  when 
again  it  became  necessary  to  make  provision  for  the  constant 
increase  of  pupils,  as  well  as  to  follow  the  natural  change 
of  the  city's  residence  to  higher  ground.  With  subscriptions 
to  the  stock  to  the  amount  of  four  hundred  shares,  a  lot  was 
procured  on  North  Pearl  street  and  the  erection  of  a  "  spa- 
cious, tasteful  and  commodious  "  building  was  at  once  begun. 
Twenty-five  years  ago  no  description  of  this  building  would 
have  been  necessary,  but  it  is  safe  to  say  that  no  person  con- 
nected with  the  present  school  ever  saw  the  original  fagade 
of  the  classic  edifice  which  from  1834  to  1892  was  the  school 
home.  It  is  therefore  permissible  to  quote  somewhat  in  detail 
from  an  elaborate  description  written  by  a  traveler  who 
passed  through  the  city  very  soon  after  the  building  was 
completed. 

"  The  plan  of  the  building  is  about  sixty-five  feet  by 
seventy-seven,  including  the  portico,  and  the  height  about 
fifty-five  feet,  containing  in  all  four  stories  and  a  cellar.  The 
four  stories  are  divided  into  sixteen  spacious  rooms;  with 
halls  sufficient  for  the  accommodation  of  the  staircases,  and 
communications  to  the  several  apartments.  The  front  faces 
to  the  east,  and  is  ornamented  with  a  beautiful  Hexastyle 
portico  of  the  Ionic  order,  which  for  sublimity  of  effect,  and 
taste  in  arrangement,  is  not  surpassed  by  any  in  the  United 
States.  The  proportions  of  the  columns,  capitals,  bases,  and 
entablature,  are  taken  from  the  temple  on  the  Ilissus,  the 
most  beautiful  example  of  the  Ionic  among  the  remains  of 
antiquity.  A  flight  of  six  steps  of  marble  supports  the  colon- 
ic 


Cextexnial  Celebration 

nade;  and  this  elevation,  the  great  length  of  the  columns 
(which  are  forty  feet),  the  bold  and  lofty  entablature,  so  well 
adapted  to  this  order,  give  a  majesty  and  effect  to  the  front 
which  can  only  be  duly  appreciated  by  a  critical  examination. 
The  angles  are  finished  with  antae ;  and  the  ceiling  of  the 
pronaos  or  vestibule  formed  into  a  single  panel,  surrounded 
with  an  appropriate  entablature. 

"  The  arrangement  of  the  front  windows,  dividing  the  front 
into  two  stories  instead  of  four,  is  judicious.  If  the  front 
had  been  i)erforated  for  four  tiers  of  windows,  its  archi- 
tectural beauty  would  have  been  much  impaired ;  but  by 
lengthening  the  windows,  so  that  one  serves  to  light  two 
stories,  as  has  been  done,  and  throwing  a  transom  across 
them  at  the  intermediate  floors,  ornamented  with  Grecian  fret, 
the  beauty  of  the  whole  has  been  increased. 

"  The  principal  entrance  into  the  interior,  is  from  the  vesti- 
bule above  mentioned.  The  door  is  quite  plain,  no  ornament 
being  admitted  which  does  not  strictly  accord  with  the  gen- 
eral character  of  the  front.  The  entrance  is,  nevertheless, 
spacious  and  convenient,  and  corresponds  well  with  the 
Venetian  windows  above.  A  bold,  well  constructed  stair- 
case, ascending  to  the  fourth  story,  is  presented  immediately 
on  entering  the  lower  hall,  and  though  divested  of  all  fantastic 
ornament,  it  will  be  much  admired  on  account  of  its  strength 
and  convenience,  and  the  durable  cjuality  of  the  materials  with 
which  it  is  constructed. 

"The  finish  of  the  rooms  (the  Exhibition  room  excepted) 
is  plain,  and  of  Grecian  detail ;  and  while  all  superfluous 
ornament  has  been  studiously  avoided,  strength,  boldness,  and 
propriety  have  been  kept  steadily  in  view. 

"  The  Chapel  exhibits  a  slight  departure  from  that  plain- 

II 


Albany  Academy  for  Girls 

ncss  of  style  which  is  a  marked  feature  in  the  general  finish 
of  this  edifice.  But  this  slight  variation  creates  no  confusion. 
It  seems  in  harmony  with  the  rest;  and  while  the  shade  of 
difference  is  so  small  as  scarcely  to  be  noticed,  you  are  pre- 
sented with  the  most  classically  finished  room  in  this  city,  and 
one  probably  not  surpassed  by  any  in  the  state.  This  room 
is  thirty-seven  by  sixty-one  feet,  the  ceiling  about  seventeen 
feet  high,  and  the  entrance  by  two  spacious  doors  on  the  east 
side.  It  is  lighted  by  a  range  of  windows  along  the  west  side ; 
and  the  walls  of  the  opposite  side  and  end  have  recesses  cor- 
responding in  number  and  location  w^ith  the  windows,  which 
preserve  a  rigid  symmetry  as  regards  the  various  openings. 
The  doors,  windows,  and  recesses,  are  finished  with  plain 
casings,  having  pedimental  lintels  crowned  with  carved  mould- 
ings. The  plainness  of  the  face  of  the  casings  is  relieved  by 
patteres,  or  rosettes,  a  fashionable  and  judicious  ornament 
much  used  by  the  architects  of  antiquity.  The  antae  and 
entablature  with  which  this  room  is  ornamented,  are  in  imi- 
tation of  those  of  the  Erectheum,  and  cannot  fail  to  attract 
particular  attention.  They  exhibit  a  highly  finished  specimen 
of  the  Grecian  Ionic,  and  display  a  judicious  use  of  ornament 
without  profusion ;  and  if  this  specimen  of  the  Ionic  order 
be  contrasted  with  that  used  in  the  front  portico,  it  will  be 
readily  conceded,  that  though  the  latter,  on  account  of  its 
boldness,  should  have  preference  in  external  decoration,  it 
must  yield  the  palm  to  the  former  for  internal  finish." 

And  all  this  for  $33,295,  which,  compared  with  the  $3,000 
of  the  previous  building,  doubtless  seemed  a  large  expendi- 
ture. The  ceremonies  of  dedication  took  place  on  the  tw-elfth 
of  May,  1834.  The  principal  feature  of  the  occasion  was  an 
address  by  the  president  of  the  board  of  trustees.  Rev.  John 

12 


Centexnial  Celebration 

Ludlow,  for  which  the  trustees,  that  day  in  session,  voted 
their  thanks,  and  of  which  they  begged  a  copy  for  pubHcation. 
The  traveler  of  whom  mention  has  been  made  was  inter- 
ested not  only  in  the  pillars  and  entablatures,  but  recorded 
also  what  was  told  him  of  the  courses  and  methods.  That 
each  of  the  six  departments  should  have  had  a  permanent 
teacher,  that  a  text  book  in  science  was  the  basis  only  of 
instruction,  and  that  some  specimens  of  prose  composition 
read  him  "  would  have  been  creditable  to  a  practiced  and  even 
classic  writer "  seemed  worthy  of  remark.  A  survey  of 
materials  available  for  a  history  of  the  school  shows  in  an 
interesting  way  that  of  all  the  subjects  taught  from  the  begin- 
ning, English  composition,  both  in  prose  and  poetr}-.  received 
the  most  attention.  The  prizes  and  blue  ribbons  given  by  the 
alumnae  association  were  nearly  all  for  excellence  in  literary 
work.  The  long-treasured  copies  of  the  Semper  Portfolio, 
hand-painted  and  beribboned,  testify  to  the  interest  felt  in  the 
art  of  expression.  A  special  graduate  course  in  English,  with 
diploma,  was  offered  from  1849  to  1869.  Commencement 
exercises  for  a  series  of  years  made  a  special  feature  of  the 
"  Report  on  Composition  of  the  Graduating  Class  ",  and  the 
catalogue  (at  least  in  the  '70's)  contains  reports  of  judges 
of  English  writing  in  all  the  departments  and  print-  in  full 
the  best  three  essays  of  the  Graduating  Class.  In  a  sketch 
of  the  later  work  of  the  graduates  of  the  school  before  the 
'8o's,  thirty-six  are  mentioned  as  having  shown  special  ai)ti- 
tude  for  writing,  or  as  having  jiublished  magazine  articles  or 
books.  The  teachers  of  tiie  earlier  years  most  often  quoted 
and  most  admired  were  English  teachers.  A  school  publica- 
tion called  Planetarium  was  j^rinted  in   1843.     The  Monthly 

13 


Albany  Academy  for  Girls 

Rose,  which  also  lived  in  the  '40s,  was  followed  in  the  '60s 
by  the  Academy  Monthly,  and  in  1903  by  the  Academe. 

In  1864  the  first  half  century  was  completed,  and  on  the 
morning  of  the  seventeenth  of  May  the  school  chapel  was 
filled  with  pupils,  graduates  and  guests.  Distinguished  among 
the  others  were  three  daughters  of  Mr  Thomas  Russell  and 
the  only  daughter  of  Mr  and  Mrs  Foot,  who  had  all  entered 
the  school  at  its  first  session,  fifty  years  before.  An  address 
of  welcome  was  made  by  the  president  of  the  trustees,  Hon. 
Amasa  Parker,  devotional  exercises  were  conducted  by  Mr 
Crittenden  and  Mr  Stearns,  the  principal,  and  an  anthem 
was  sung  by  the  school.  More  public  exercises,  in  the  after- 
noon, were  held  in  Tweddle  Hall,  where  an  historical  sketch 
w^as  read  by  Mr  Steams  and  an  oration  given  by  President 
Stearns  of  Amherst  College.  The  evening  session,  rendered 
brilliant  by  the  presence  of  Governor  Seymour  and  his  staff, 
"  was  mainly  devoted  to  music  and  social  intercourse." 

The  historical  sketch  concluded  with  these  words :  "  Thus 
our  Academy  commenced,  continued  and  perfected  its  first 
half  century.  How  much  husbands  and  children  in  our  city 
and  elsewhere,  owe  to  its  benign  influence,  how  much  society 
is  indebted  for  the  virtue  and  cultivation  of  many  of  its 
chiefest  ornaments,  no  historian  save  the  '  Recording  Angel ' 
can  write.  It  has  rested  on  no  splendid  endowments.  It 
has  made  no  pathetic  appeals  to  the  sympathies  of  the  public. 
It  has  kept  on  the  even  tenor  of  its  way,  furnishing  its  own 
pecuniary  support,  sometimes  even  paying  dividends  to  its 
stockholders,  and  relying  on  its  own  conscious  excellencies 
for  its  favor  with  the  community." 

Mr  Steams  seems  to  have  been  a  natural  educator,  and 
the    Academy's    favor    with    the    community    in    those    days 

14 


Centennial  Celebration 

depended  largely  on  his  thoroughness  and  firm  discipline,  as 
well  as  on  the  excellent  teachers  whom  he  selected.  The 
women  who  taught  in  these  years  were  merely  assistants,  and 
seem  not  to  have  been  considered  a  part  of  the  faculty.  Even 
Mr  Stearns  printed  "  Faculty  "  in  large  type  over  tiie  list 
of  the  men,  and  "  Assistants  ",  very  small,  over  Miss  Greely, 
Mrs  Bruce,  and  their  associates.  Revising  at  once  the  course 
of  study,  he  had  reduced  the  number  of  departments  from 
six  to  four  and  enriched  the  curriculum  by  offering  advan- 
tages in  many  directions  which  were  not  to  be  found  else- 
where in  the  city.  His  interest  in  the  boarding  department 
had  led  him  to  purchase  for  that  use  the  old  mansion  Ash 
Grove  Place,  which,  with  its  beautiful  lawns  and  groves,  had 
been  the  home  of  three  governors  of  the  state. 

His  predecessor,  Mr  Parsons,  had  also  secured  distin- 
guished residence  for  the  pupils  from  out  of  town.  The 
Patroon  Place,  88i  Broadway,  was  advertised  as  "  healthful 
and  airy  ",  with  halls  and  rooms  "  commodious  and  splen- 
did ",  and  with  an  extensive  garden  to  furnish  a  secluded 
playground.  Members  of  the  French  normal  class,  estab- 
lished at  this  time,  and  others  wishing  to  speak  the  language, 
were  provided  for  in  the  residence  of  Professor  Molinard.  in 
Park  Place.  The  boarding  department  has  never  again 
reached  the  importance  it  assumed  under  Mr  Crittenden,  ^Ir 
Parsons  and  Mr  Stearns. 

Four  years  after  the  semi-centennial  the  satisfactory  admin- 
istration of  Mr  Stearns  came  to  an  end.  For  the  first  fifty 
years  the  principals  liad  all  been  men,  educated  at  I'nion,  Vale, 
and  Harvard.  For  the  second  fifty  years  they  have  all  been 
women,  beginning  with  Miss  Greely  in  1868.  Iler  term  of 
service  as  princi|ial   was   only  one  year,  but   for  the   eleven 

i^ 


Albany  Academy  for  Girls 

years  preceding  she  bad  made  the  position  of  "  Assistant " 
one  of  great  honor. 

Toward  the  last  of  the  decade  from  1869  to  1879  Miss 
Ostrom  was  obliged  to  meet  certain  difficulties  which  had  not 
disturbed  her  predecessors.  Miss  Plympton  once  wrote  of 
certain  causes  which  were  at  work  to  diminish  the  number 
of  pupils,  as  not  hostile  in  themselves  but  arising  "  from 
conditions  incident  to  the  growth  of  the  city,  the  change  in 
population  and  the  demand  for  free  instruction  in  higher 
branches  than  were  then  taught  in  the  public  schools.  The 
establishment  of  a  Church  day  and  boarding  school  under  the 
direction  of  the  bishop  of  the  diocese  gradually  withdrew 
from  the  Academy  most  of  the  Episcopal  patronage,  together 
with  that  of  other  denominations  better  accommodated  as  to 
location  by  St.  Agnes  School.  Between  the  high  school  and 
the  new  Church  school  it  is  not  surprising  if  this  was  a 
period  of  gradually  diminishing  numbers  and  consequent  loss 
of  prestige." 

The  number  of  pupils  graduated  from  a  school  never  of 
course  tells  the  full  story  of  the  worth  of  the  institution  or 
its  position  in  the  community,  but  a  certain  tale  of  tendencies, 
at  least,  may  be  supplied  by  averages.  The  largest  class  ever 
graduated  from  the  Academy  was  in  1839,  under  Mr  Crit- 
tenden, a  class  of  thirty-five,  from  a  school  membership  of 
five  hundred  and  thirty-six.  The  average  number  graduated 
in  the  decade  beginning  that  year  was  twenty-three.  For 
the  five  following  decades  the  averages  are  eleven,  fourteen, 
sixteen,  eleven,  and  nine,  showing  less  variation  than  has 
perhaps  been  thought. 

A  school  membership  of  five  hundred  and  thirty-six  was 
not   extraordinary    for   the  years   preceding    1864.      In    1848 

16 


UK   Ukioinal    Bl'ii.hi.ni;.    i^\4 


Centennial  Celebration 

there  were  five  hundred  and  fifty-eight,  and  in  1852  there 
were  five  hundred  and  twenty-seven.  It  must  be  remembered 
that  in  the  '30a,  '40s  and  '50s  there  were  no  colleges  for 
women,  and  there  came  to  the  Academy  pupils  from  eighteen 
different  states,  seeking,  not  the  education  of  a  secondary 
school,  but  the  nearest  possible  approach  to  the  advantages 
offered  their  brothers  in  the  college  and  university.  The 
distinction  of  the  Academy  lay  in  the  fact  that  it  not  only 
claimed  to  take  the  education  of  girls  more  seriously  than 
most  contemporary  schools,  but  that  it  actually  did  so  do. 
The  quaint  insistence  in  the  old  catalogues  and  announce- 
ments that  here  text  books  were  used  as  a  basis  only  for  the 
preparation  of  lessons  has  often  caused  a  smile.  What  more 
should  a  text  book  be?  But  in  its  time  that  fact  presented 
a  real  and  radical  advance,  and  is  only  one  illustration  of 
many.  The  second  half  century  has  seen  a  period  of  read- 
justment. With  the  founding  of  colleges  for  women  the 
character  of  schools  changed.  Certain  courses  of  study  much 
emphasized  in  the  earlier  days  were  gradually  eliminated. 
College  entrance  examinations  forced  entirely  new  require- 
ments. Schools  came  to  be  classified  as  "  Finishing  ".  "  Pre- 
paratory "  or  "  just  school ".  and  an  institution  with  so 
dignified  a  past  has  found  its  place  in  the  new  order  with 
some  travail  of  soul.  Tlie  old  unique  position  is  obviously 
out  of  the  question,  the  five  hundred  i)ui)ils  ])robably  out  of 
the  question  too.  but  to  be  now  the  best  possible  secondary 
school,  in  the  face  of  keen  competition,  because  it  is  a  secon- 
dary school  that  the  time  recjuircs,  is  surely  as  honorable  a 
position  as  any  the  past  could  show. 

Complications   arising  on   the   resignation  of   Miss   Louise 
Ostrom,  in   1879,  the  trustees,  under  the  wise  guidance  of 

17 


Albany  Academy  for  Girls 

Mr  Thomas  Olcott,  invited  Miss  Lucy  A.  Plympton  to  unite 
with  the  Academy  her  school  for  young  ladies  on  North  Pearl 
street,  and  meeting  for  the  first  time  February  sixteenth, 
1880,  for  four  months,  under  the  one  principal,  this  curious 
alliance  of  two  separate  organizations  was  welding  itself  into 
a  whole.  The  perfecting  of  this  arrangement  was  one  of 
the  last  acts  of  Mr  Olcott,  and  Miss  Plympton  has  always 
said  that  the  solemn  and  impressive  charge  he  gave  her  dur- 
ing their  last  interview  filled  her  with  a  deep  and  peculiar 
sense  of  responsibility  in  her  work.  "  If  my  courage  held 
out  during  years  of  effort  to  secure  a  more  suitable  location 
for  the  Academy,  it  was  largely  due  to  the  inspiration  I  had 
received  from  this  honored  man." 

But  not  even  the  bringing  in  this  way  of  sixty  new  pupils 
and  the  further  addition  to  the  primary  of  Mrs  Millard's 
private  school  nor  the  most  earnest  efforts  on  the  part  of 
the  administration  could  balance  the  fact  that  North  Pearl 
street  was  far  down  town,  that  electric  cars  made  the  busi- 
ness streets  unsafe  for  young  pupils,  and  that  nothing  but  a 
change  of  location  could  save  the  school.  The  trustees  were 
embarrassed  by  the  old  building  for  which  there  seemed  to 
be  no  sale,  and  could  see  no  way  of  financing  so  radical  a 
move  as  the  purchase  of  property  further  west,  even  if  such 
a  site  had  been  definitely  offered.  The  strain  of  decision 
fell  most  heavily  on  the  principal,  who  after  wxeks  of  thought 
and  toilsome  planning  was  allowed  to  rent  at  her  own  risk  a 
residence  on  Washington  avenue  for  use  as  a  school  and  a 
home. 

The  first  days  of  January,  1892,  saw  the  portraits  from 
the  library  and  old  chapel  rehung  in  the  new  entrance  hall, 
drawing  rooms  transformed  into  school  rooms,  and  the  little 

18 


Centennial  Celebration 

space  which  could  be  wrung  from  the  actual  necessities 
of  school  work  prepared  for  the  uses  of  a  family.  The 
sorting  and  packing  for  moving  of  the  equipment  and  accumu- 
lations of  nearly  sixty  years  was  no  holiday  enterprise,  though 
it  was  accomplished  during  the  holiday  recess.  In  spite  of 
cramped  quarters  which  admitted  of  no  growth  in  numbers, 
and  the  many  inconveniences  incident  to  a  transition  period, 
teachers  and  pupils  alike  entered  into  the  game  with  courage 
and  good  faith,  and  many  strong  ties  of  good  fellowship  were 
the  result  of  that  year's  association. 

Then,  in  the  autumn  of  1892,  began  the  new  era  of  alumnae 
activity.  The  Alumnae  Association  has  been  organized  in 
1 84 1  and  its  aims  were  set  forth  in  the  preamble  of  the  Con- 
stitution :  "  To  perpetuate  the  recollections  of  their  Alma 
Mater,  to  foster  the  relations  of  friendship  that  have  been 
formed  during  their  course  of  academic  study,  and  desirous 
of  continuing  their  mental  discipline  by  such  systematic 
arrangements  as  they  shall  be  enabled  to  establish  and  sustain, 
and  wishing  chiefly  to  advance  the  cause  of  female  education 
by  searching  for,  and  pointing  out  its  objects,  and  by  seeking 
the  modes  of  instruction  best  adapted  to  accomplish  the  great 
end  of  all  mental  training  and  acquisitions."  These  ends  were 
sought  by  the  offer  of  prizes  and  medals  in  various  depart- 
ments, and  later,  by  study  clubs  and  classes.  One  of  these, 
Semper  Fidelis,  organized  in  18/ 1.  has  met  regularly  and 
enthusiastically  since  then  for  reading  and  discussion  of 
matters  literary,  artistic  and  scientific. 

The  Dana  Natural  History  Society  was  a  somewhat  more 
remote  outgrowth  of  Alumnae  organization,  and  remains  the 
last  of  a  number  of  societies  started  by  Professor  A.  J.  Ebell. 
to  awaken  and  foster  an  interest  in  scientific  research. 

19 


Albany  Academy  for  Gikls 

But  the  attainment  of  these  ends  was  quite  ajjart  from  any 
relation  to  the  school,  and  the  association  was  so  thoroughly 
alumnae  that  its  influence  in  the  ongoing  of  the  institution 
had  been  very  little  felt.  At  this  crisis,  however,  at  the  time 
of  their  mother's  greatest  need,  her  loyal  daughters  entered 
into  a  compact  of  strong  and  intimate  assurance  of  support, 
which  has  never  been  broken.  Through  a  small  but  influen- 
tial committee  they  met  the  trustees  and  offered,  in  case  it 
should  seem  wise  to  secure  property  for  a  new  building,  to 
exert  themselves  in  substantial  manner  for  the  raising  of  the 
necessary  funds.  Within  a  month  the  house  then  occupied 
had  been  purchased  and  a  very  unusual  enthusiasm  had  been 
roused  in  the  community.  It  was  proposed  to  erect  in  the 
rear  of  the  Washington  avenue  house  and  attached  to  it, 
an  addition  of  very  considerable  size  for  recitation  and  study 
halls,  and  rooms  for  administrative  use.  The  newspapers 
gave  long  columns  of  comment  and  long  lists  of  donors,  with 
now  and  then  a  supplement  to  show  plans  for  rebuilding  or 
addition.  If  the  teachers  and  pupils  sometimes  winced  at 
phrases  used  as  incentives  to  larger  giving,  they,  none  the 
less,  rejoiced  at  the  lengthening  lists  and  took  courage.  One 
read  "  An  ivy-like  lethargy  has  crept  over  this  venerable  insti- 
tution of  late  years,"  or  "  Little  did  our  townsmen  think  ten 
days  ago  that  the  Girls'  Academy  was  anything  more  than 
an  old  curio — a  sort  of  mausoleum  of  past  prestige."  An 
open  meeting  was  held  by  the  trustees  in  the  chapel  of  the 
old  building  on  the  thirty-first  of  January,  1893.  Hon.  Wil- 
liam L.  Learned  presided.  The  room  was  crowded,  and 
most  stirring  addresses  were  made  by  members  of  the  board 
of  trustees  and  board  of  visitors.  Large  separate  committees 
of  men  and  women  w-ere  appointed  for  the  raising  of  money, 

20 


Centennial  Celebration 

and  announceinent  was  made  of  the  first  gift  of  one  thousand 
dollars  from  Mr  Dudley  Olcott.  Then  these  two  hundred 
people  scattered,  the  women,  led  by  Mrs.  George  Douglas 
Miller,  to  meet  every  Saturday  morning  to  report  their  work, 
busy  men,  prominent  among  them  Mr  George  Douglas  Miller, 
to  give  unsparingly  of  their  time  and  energ\%  and  all  of  them 
by  argument  and  example,  to  work  out  a  constant  problem  in 
subtraction  with  $35,000,  the  required  sum,  as  the  base.  So 
telling  was  the  work  and  so  generous  the  response,  and  so 
faithful  the  press  in  keeping  the  matter  before  the  public  mind 
that  one-third  the  cost  of  the  proposed  addition  was  raised  in 
eight  days.  The  citizens  of  Albany  were  bidden  to  consider 
the  financial  advantage  of  a  large  boarding  school,  they  were 
reminded  that  in  1838  one  hundred  and  forty  boarding  pupils 
spent  their  money  freely  in  the  city  shojxs ;  and  finally,  the 
school,  with  its  history,  was  laid  upon  the  conscience  of  each 
man  and  woman.  Will  you  let  die  an  institution  which  is 
yours?  It  was  the  first  plea  for  money  the  Academy  had 
made  since  1833.  and  the  money  came. 

On  the  twentieth  of  April  the  work  of  tearing  down  struc- 
tures  then  on  the  site  of  the  new  edifice  was  begun,  and  by 
the  end  of  November  the  last  hammer  was  silent,  the  last 
workman  had  dei)arted  and  the  well-lighted,  commodious 
and  well-cc|ui]:iped  school  rooms  were  in  daily  use.  'I "he  prin- 
cipal had  s])ent  nio>t  of  the  summer  in  tlic  city,  and  Judge 
Learned,  on  behalf  of  the  trustees  and  because  of  his  own 
untiring  devotion,  had  given  his  time  without  stint  and  gen- 
erously filled  more  than  one  gap  in  the  appropriations. 

On  the  evening  of  the  eleventh  of  December,  i8<)3.  the 
building  was  formally  opened.  Judge  Learned  gave  a  brief 
account  of  the  main  events  in  the  history  of  the  institution 

21 


Albany  Academy  for  Girls 

and  presented  the  other  speakers  of  the  evening,  the  Rev 
Wallace  H.  Buttrick,  Dr  James  H.  Ecob,  Dr  A.  V.  V.  Ray- 
mond, later  president  of  Union  College,  and  President  Taylor 
of  Vassar.  The  singing  of  Alma  Academia  closed  the  exer- 
cises in  the  study  hall  and  opened  a  sort  of  peripatetic  recep- 
tion which  surged  pleasantly  from  the  fourth  floor  of  the 
old  house  to  the  fourth  floor  of  the  new,  until  the  last  corner 
had  been  inspected. 

For  eight  years  more  under  these  improved  conditions  the 
school  went  on  with  Miss  Plympton  still  at  the  head.  The 
ample  study  hall  gave  opportunity  for  evening  lectures  and 
for  concerts,  for  Semper  plays  and  for  Dana  Society  exhibits. 
Large  Alumnae  classes  in  literature  and  French  met  regu- 
larly. There  were  teas  where  French  only  was  spoken  and 
informal  gatherings  of  pupils  with  their  friends.  For  the 
first  time  the  Alumnae  Association  found  a  suitable  place 
for  meeting  and  for  storing  in  safety  its  memorials.  By  wise 
expenditure  and  through  gifts  the  handsome  room  allotted  to 
them  becomes  every  year  more  significant  of  the  old  and  new 
life  it  strives  to  represent.  Here,  most  ancient  of  all,  may 
be  seen  the  original  agreement  of  the  first  patrons  of  the 
Academy,  premiums  given  to  Lucretia  Foot  and  Mary  Kent, 
with  autographs  and  photographs  and  medals.  Here  also  are 
the  old  books — once  the  "  Albany  City  Library,  owned  and 
controlled  by  a  stock  company  composed  of  many  prominent 
citizens.  When  the  building  on  Pearl  street  was  completed, 
the  large  room  on  the  north  side  of  the  first  floor  was  loaned 
to  this  library  and  occupied  by  it  until  the  winter  of  1834- 
1835.  At  this  time  it  was  suggested  that  the  stockholders 
might  be  induced  to  transfer  the  ownership  to  the  Academy. 
A  committee  was  chosen  from  the  pupils  to  draw  up  a  peti- 

22 


Cextexnial  Celebration 

tion,  which,  when  circulated,  received  the  signatures  of  all 
the  stockholders,  and  the  library  became  the  property  of  the 
A.  F.  A." 

Enlarged  facilities  in  every  direction  gave  a  new  interest 
to  the  school  work.  The  number  of  pupils  in  the  home  did 
not  materially  increase  and  the  school  continues  to  be  pri- 
marily for  day  scholars.  With  the  present  equipment  it  can 
never  offer  sufficient  inducement  to  attract  very  large  num- 
bers. A  boarding  school  in  a  city,  in  these  days  when  the 
call  to  the  country  is  so  strong,  must  naturally  be  at  a  dis- 
advantage not  to  be  overcome  except  in  case  of  peculiar 
specialization  derived  from  unusual  equipment. 

On  February  sixteenth,  1901,  Miss  Plympton  completed  her 
twenty-first  year  as  Principal,  the  longest  record  of  service 
in  the  history  of  tlie  school.  Her  resignation  took  effect  in 
the  June  following.  The  administration  had  been  one  of 
great  devotion  and  singular  courage.  Such  demands  on 
vision,  faith  and  endurance  will,  in  the  years  to  come, 
scarcely  be  exacted  of  those  who  stand  in  her  place. 

The  conduct  of  the  school  passed  into  the  peculiarly  capable 
hands  of  IMiss  Esther  Lx)uise  Camp,  and  the  last  thirteen  years 
of  the  century  close  the  epoch  w'ith  dignity  and  with  hope. 
The  number  of  pupils  has  increased  from  a  little  less  than 
one  hundred  to  something  more  than  one  liundrLcl  and  fifty. 
The  numljer  fitted  for  college  during  these  years  shows  a 
marked  increase.  Of  the  one  hundred  and  sixty-nine  gradu- 
ates in  twelve  years,  fifty-six,  or  exactly  one-third,  have  been 
sent  to  Vassar,  Radcliffe,  Mt.  Holyoke,  liamard.  W'ellesley 
and  IJryn  Mawr.  ( )f  tiie  class  of  1914  one-third  will  go  to 
college  and  practically  the  whole  of  the  other  two-thirds  will 
carry  on  some  work   in  advanced  courses   of  art,  music,  or 

23 


Albany  Academy  for  Girls 

languages.  The  curriculum  provides  for  those  pupils  who  do 
not  go  to  college  special  courses  in  history,  art  and  science. 
The  school  is  divided  very  simply  into  two  departments  only, 
Pre-Academic  and  Academic.  The  youngest  children,  from 
two  and  a  half  to  seven  years,  are  in  charge  of  a  teacher 
trained  in  Italy  in  the  Montessori  system  and  skilled  by  expe- 
rience in  the  adapting  of  this  system  to  American  children. 
The  number  of  teachers  has  with  the  increase  in  pupils 
advanced  to  seventeen,  most  of  whom  reside  in  the  home. 

The  practical  advantage  of  the  Endowment  Fund,  for  which 
the  Alumnae  have  been  for  fourteen  years  exerting  their 
efforts  may  be  seen  in  the  fact  that  already  more  than  two 
thousand  dollars  are  each  year  drawn  from  the  earnings  of 
this  fund  for  school  expense,  and  found  to  be  absolutely 
essential.  The  history  of  the  Endowment  Fund  falls  entirely 
in  these  last  fourteen  years.  In  May,  1900,  at  a  meeting  of 
a  conference  committee  of  the  Alumnae  with  the  board  of 
trustees,  an  offer  of  twenty-five  hundred  dollars  was  made 
by  one  of  those  present  toward  liquidating  a  debt  of  ten  thou- 
sand dollars,  providing  the  Alumnae  raise  the  remainder  of 
the  amount  by  the  first  of  January,  1901.  A  few  days  later, 
at  the  annual  breakfast,  it  was  voted  "  that  the  Alumnae  pledge 
themselves  to  raise  the  seven  thousand  five  hundred  dollars 
necessary  to  secure  the  gift  of  twenty-five  hundred."  A  year 
from  that  time  the  mortgage  had  been  paid,  and  a  balance  of 
thirteen  hundred  dollars  formed  the  nucleus  of  this  new  fund. 
A  bazaar  in  1904  added  something  over  three  thousand  dollars, 
but  for  the  most  part  the  yearly  additions  have  been  the  result 
of  tireless  activity  on  the  part  of  those  in  charge  and  the 
unceasing  loyalty  of  old  friends.  Somewhat  less  than  three- 
fourths  of  the  desired  one  hundred  thousand  is,  as  we  have 

24 


Cextexnial  Celebration 

seen,  already  accomplishing  its  purpose.  An  endowed  lec- 
tureship in  memory  of  Mrs  Bruce,  who  conducted  the  Third 
Department  from  1856  to  1864,  was  established  in  1910.  This 
memorial  seeks  to  perpetuate  by  a  yearly  lecture  of  superior 
character,  the  wholesome  and  beautiful  influence  of  a  woman 
of  clear  thought,  rare  culture  and  consecrated  life.  The 
founding  in  New  York  City  of  the  Betsey  Foot  Chapter  of 
Alumnae  was  reported  at  the  luncheon  in  1909.  Alumnae 
representation  on  the  board  of  trustees  also  originated  in  this 
period.  ]\Irs  George  Douglas  Miller  and  Mrs  George  Porter 
Hilton  were  elected  to  this  body  in  jVIay,  1900,  and  are  still 
serving. 

In  1905  Miss  Camp's  sane  and  eloquent  plea  for  a  change  in 
the  name  of  the  school,  presented  in  so  wise  a  way  the  prac- 
tical reasons  for  translating  the  old  name  into  modern  English, 
that  the  last  expressed  objections  were  overcome,  and  on 
February  twenty-sixth,  1906,  Governor  Higgins  signed  the  bill 
which  makes  us  today  own  allegiance  to  the  Albany  Academy 
for  Girls.  A  varying  allegiance  it  must  necessarily  be — to  the 
unfading  memory  of  some  inspiring  personality,  to  friend- 
ships which  have  stood  the  test  of  years,  to  work  which  was 
for  the  love  of  it,  and  love  that  came  through  work,  to  ideals 
the  more  glorious  because  too  high,  and  hopes  as  yet  too  new 
to  understand.  iUit  true  allegiance  whether  to  a  memory,  a 
love  or  an  ideal  is  a  working  princijile.  and  a  school,  in  the 
last  analysis,  is  a  very  concrete,  practical  thing,  and  though 
"  ye  have  read,  ye  have  heard,  ye  have  thouc/ht  "  of  your 
Alma  Mater's  need  of  you.  the  years  will  still  insist  on  saying, 
"  Give  answer,  what,"  for  her.  "  ha'  ve  done?  " 


25 


Albany  Academy  for  Girls 


Historical  Address 

Justice  Alden  Chester 
President  of  the  Board  of  Trustees 

Friends,  Alumnae,  Teachers  and  Pupils  of  the  Academy: 

Responding  to  the  request  of  my  associates  in  the  Board 
of  Trustees,  that  I  should  on  this  occasion  give  a  brief  his- 
torical review  of  the  institution  from  its  beginning,  I  proceed 
to  the  pleasant  task,  mindful  of  the  difficulty  of  condensing 
the  matter  in  hand  to  the  limits  of  a  single  address  and  bearing 
in  mind  that  Miss  Grace  Perry,  at  the  Alumnae  breakfast 
today,  has  already  presented  a  very  valuable  and  interesting 
paper  on  the  subject  covering  to  some  extent  a  few  of  the 
facts  that  I  shall  mention  but  from  a  somewhat  different  point 
of  view  than  is  expected  from  me. 

When  we  reflect  upon  the  educational  advantages  which 
the  girls  and  young  women  of  1914  enjoy  and  upon  the 
splendid  opportunities  which  are  today  afforded  them  on 
every  hand  for  obtaining  a  liberal  education,  it  is  with  great 
difficulty  that  we  can  fairly  appreciate  the  woeful  lack  of 
such  advantages  and  opportunities  a  hundred  years  ago. 

We  are  astonished  not  because  they  now  have  equal  advan- 
tages with  boys  and  young  men  in  the  schools,  but  because  it 
has  not  always  been  so. 

In  the  time  of  Queen  Elizabeth  very  few  women  could  read 
or  write  and  the  only  way  available  to  them  for  procuring 
even  a  rudimentary  education  was  from  private  teachers,  yet 

26 


Centennial  Celebration 

the  doors  of  Oxford  and  Cambridge  were  then  open  to  young 
men  and  had  been  for  centuries. 

In  the  early  days  of  the  pubHc  school  system,  there  was 
much  debate  over  the  propriety  of  the  education  of  boys  at 
public  expense,  but  there  was  general  concurrence  in  the  belief 
that  it  was  not  proper  for  the  public  to  educate  girls  at  all. 
A  solemn  vote  to  that  effect  was  passed  at  a  town  meeting  in 
the  Massachusetts  town  which  is  now  the  seat  of  one  of  the 
great  women's  colleges  of  the  country. 

Abigail,  the  accomplished  daughter  of  Parson  Smith,  who 
afterwards  became  the  wife  of  President  John  Adams,  wrote 
of  her  youth  that  "  female  education  in  the  best  families  goes 
no  further  than  writing  and  arithmetic,  and  in  some  few  rare 
instances,  music  and  dancing,"  and  even  so  much  was  under 
private  teachers. 

P>arry,  in  his  History  of  Massachusetts,  says  that  public 
education  was  first  provided  for  boys  only  "  but  light  soon 
broke  in,  and  girls  were  allowed  to  attend  the  public  schools 
two  hours  a  day." 

The  town  of  Medford  voted  in  1766  that  the  school  com- 
mittee "  have  power  to  agree  with  the  school  master  to  instruct 
girls  two  hours  a  day  after  the  boys  are  dismissed." 

In  Quincy's  Municipal  History  of  P)Oston  it  is  stated 
that  from  1790  girls  were  there  admitted  to  the  jiublic  schools 
tluring  the  summer  months  only,  when  there  were  not  boys 
enough  to  fill  them.  In  fact,  girls  were  not  admitted  to  the 
public  schools  at  all  in  that  city  until  1789  and  for  only  half 
time  until  1828. 

Dorchester  voted  in  1784  "  that  such  girls  as  can  read  the 
psalter  be  allowed  to  attend  the  grammar  school  from  the 
first  day  of  June  to  the  first  day  of  October." 

27 


Albany  Academy  for  Girls 

Gloucester,  in  1790,  directed  that  the  school  masters  devote 
two  hours  a  day  (I  quote  from  the  record)  "to  the  instruc- 
tion of  females — as  they  are  a  tender  and  interesting  branch 
of  the  community,  but  have  been  much  neglected  in  the  public 
schools  of  this  town." 

Nathan  Hale,  who  was  the  school  master  in  New  London 
in  1774,  writes :  "  I  have  kept  during  the  summer,  a  morning 
school  between  the  hours  of  five  and  seven  of  about  twenty 
young  ladies,  for  which  I  have  received  twenty  shillings  a 
scholar  by  the  quarter."  That  girls  should  be  willing  to  go  to 
school  at  as  early  an  hour  as  five  o'clock  in  the  morning,  shows 
a  commendable  zeal  on  their  part  for  an  education,  but  it 
shows  more  clearly  the  condition  of  public  sentiment  at  the 
time,  which  compelled  them  to  attend  at  that  unreasonable 
hour,  if  they  attended  at  all,  in  order  that  the  rest  of  the  day 
could  be  reserved  for  the  teaching  of  boys — my  own  grand- 
father who  was  a  pupil  of  Hale  among  the  number. 

The  conditions  prevailing  in  New  York  at  the  time,  while 
not  quite  so  bad,  were  not  essentially  different  from  those 
existing  in  New  England. 

In  the  Republic  of  the  Netherlands,  from  which  many  of 
our  early  settlers  came,  schools  in  many  places  were  open  to 
girls  and  boys  alike  and  were  supported  at  public  expense, 
yet  education  was  far  from  universal. 

A  considerable  portion  of  the  people — men  and  women 
alike — who  came  to  the  New  Netherlands,  were  unable  to 
read  and  write.  The  exceptions  were  the  clerg)-men,  the  very 
few  lawyers,  the  office  holders  and  the  wealthy.  These  classes 
in  their  youths  were  the  only  ones  deemed  fit  subjects  for 
instruction  by  "  Schoolmasters." 

One  of  the  early  Colonial  governors  of  New  York  declared 

28 


Centennial  Celebration 

that  all  the  common  people  needed  to  know,  was  how  to  earn 
enough  money  to  pay  their  taxes.  Governors,  as  well  as 
others,  have  improved  since  that  day.  This  reflected  the  then 
prevalent  English  idea. 

Early  in  the  last  century  there  was  a  forward  movement  in 
educational  lines  which  was  evidenced  in  Albany  by  the  found- 
ing of  the  Lancaster  School  and  of  the  Albany  Academy  for 
Boys,  the  former  having  been  incorporated  in  1812  and  the 
latter  in  1813. 

These  increased  facilities  for  the  training  of  boys  led  some 
people  who  had  girls  to  educate  to  wonder  if  they  had  not 
some  rights  which  mankind  was  bound  to  respect. 

Ebenezer  Foot,  an  eminent  lawyer  of  the  city,  prompted 
no  doubt  by  the  dominating  influence  of  his  good  wife,  Betsey 
Foot,  and  by  the  desire  of  both  to  provide  some  better  facili- 
ties for  the  education  of  their  daughter  than  those  aflforded 
by  the  elementary  schools  open  to  her,  became  the  active  leader 
in  a  movement  for  the  organization  of  a  school  exclusively  for 
girls.  The  then  Chief  Justice  of  the  Supreme  Court,  James 
Kent,  afterwards  Chancellor  of  the  State,  and  other  men 
prominent  in  the  social,  professional  and  business  life  of  the 
city,  heartily  joined  in  the  movement.  They  united  in  sub- 
scribing to  a  pa])cr  agreeing  to  send  for  a  year  the  number 
of  "  female  scholars  "  affixed  to  their  names  to  the  proposed 
school.  This  paper  is  still  in  existence  and  may  be  seen  at 
the  interesting  exhibit  at  the  Alumnae  Room  of  the  Academy. 

A  small  one-story  building  was  erected  on  leased  land  on 
the  east  side  of  Montgomery  street,  a  location  which  is  now 
a  portion  of  the  N.  Y.  C.  &  TT.  R.  R.  yard,  but  which  was 
then  one  of  the  most  fashionable  and  quiet  parts  of  the  city, 
and  there,  on  May  21,  1814,  ten  days  more  than  a  hundred 

29 


Albany  Academy  for  Girls 

years  ago,  the  Albany  Female  Academy — then  for  a  short 
time  called  the  Union  School,  was  opened,  with  Horace  Good- 
rich, a  graduate  of  Union  College,  as  principal. 

Albany  was  then,  as  now,  the  capital  of  the  state  and  had 
been  for  twenty-five  years,  but  it  had  a  population  of  only 
10,000. 

It  was  thirteen  years  before  negro  slavery  was  abolished  in 
this  state. 

It  was  seventeen  years  before  the  Albany  and  Schenectady 
Railway,  the  first  railroad  to  enter  Albany,  was  opened,  and 
twenty-one  years  before  the  first  telegraph  line  entered  the 
city. 

It  was  seven  and  a  half  months  before  General  Jackson 
defeated  the  British  at  New  Orleans  and  over  a  year  before 
the  British  and  the  allied  troops  defeated  Napoleon  at 
Waterloo. 

James  INIadison,  the  fourth  President  of  the  United  States, 
was  in  office. 

Daniel  T.  Tompkins  was  governor  of  the  state  and  only 
three  governors,  George  Clinton,  John  Jay  and  Morgan  Lewis, 
had  preceded  him, 

Philip  S.  Van  Rensselaer,  the  youngest  brother  of  the 
patroon.  General  Stephen  Van  Rensselaer,  was  JNIayor. 

There  was  no  daily  newspaper  published  in  the  city  at  the 
time.  No  daily  Argus  or  Knickerbocker  Press  was  laid  at 
the  doors  of  our  inhabitants  in  the  morning,  nor  Times-Union 
or  Journal  in  the  evening,  therefore  what  we  lack  concerning 
the  early  history  of  the  Academy  is  easily  accounted  for. 

The  school  thus  started  was  not  only  an  innovation  but  an 
experiment.  It  was,  however,  a  success  from  the  start.  iMr 
Goodrich  was  soon  succeeded  by  Rev.  Edwin  James  as  prin- 

30 


Centex  N I AL  Celebration 

cipal.  He  in  turn  gave  place  in  1815  to  Lebbeus  Booth,  who 
was  also  a  graduate  of  Union.  Young  women  in  increasing 
numbers  knocked  at  its  doors  for  admi>sion  as  students. 
The  small  building  where  it  started  was  soon  found  to  be 
inadequate. 

To  provide  an  effective  governing  body  and  to  enable  the 
institution  to  hold  property,  an  act  of  incorporation  was 
needed.  Gideon  Hawley,  then  Secretary  of  the  State  Board 
of  Regents,  drew  the  act,  which  was  entitled  "  An  Act  to 
incorporate  the  Female  Academy  of  the  City  of  Albany." 
It  was  passed  by  the  legislature  and  approved  by  Dewitt 
Clinton  as  Governor,  February  16,  182 1.  In  the  preamble  of 
the  act  it  is  recited  that  "  An  Academy  has  been  for  some 
years  founded  in  the  City  of  Albany  for  the  education  of 
females,  which  has  proved  to  be  of  great  public  benefit." 

At  the  first  meeting  of  the  trustees  after  the  incorporation, 
held  at  the  house  of  Rev.  Dr  John  Chester,  a  committee  was 
appointed  to  look  for  a  lot,  to  procure  plans  for  a  new  Acad- 
emy building  and  to  ascertain  the  probable  expense  thereof. 

Matters  moved  with  commendable  speed,  for  within  about 
two  months  a  lot  was  purchased,  Xo.  1 1  on  the  east  side  of 
Montgomery  street,  running  through  to  Water  street,  not 
far  from  the  site  of  the  old  building  and  contracts  were  let  to 
erect  a  new  one. 

On  the  forenoon  of  the  26th  of  June.  1821,  the  corner 
stone  of  the  new  building  was  laid  in  the  presence  of  the 
teacher>,  the  ])upils  and  the  public  with  appropriate  cere- 
monies— the  Rev.  Dr  Chester  making  a  prayer  and  the  prin- 
cipal, Mr  Booth,  delivering  a  formal  address  suitable  to  the 
occasion.     Under  the  corner  stone  a  sealed  bottle  was  buried 

31 


Albany  Academy  for  Girls 

with  a  roll  of  parchment  contained  in  it  bearing  the  following 
inscription : 

"  To  all  to  whom  these  presents  shall  come 
"  Salutem  in  Domino." 

"  Know  ye,  that  the  Albany  Female  Academy,  the  corner 
stone  whereof  is  this  day  laid,  was  founded  in  the  year  of 
our  Lord  1814;  and  that  the  same  was  incorporated  by  an 
act  of  the  Legislature  of  the  State  of  New  York  passed  Feb- 
ruary 16,  A.  D.  182 1  ;  whereby  the  following  persons  were  con- 
stituted Trustees,  who  have  accepted  the  trust  viz :  The  Hon. 
James  Kent,  Chancellor  of  said  State,  President ;  John  V. 
Henry,  Esq.,  Counsellor  at  Law  and  late  Comptroller  of  the 
State ;  the  Rev.  John  Chester,  Pastor  of  the  2nd  Presbyterian 
Church,  Albany ;  Gideon  Hawley,  Counsellor  at  Law  and  late 
Superintendent  of  common  schools  of  said  state ;  Messrs. 
Joseph  Russell,  Asa  H.  Center  (treasurer  of  the  institu- 
tion), Peter  Boyd  and  Wm.  Fowler,  merchants;  and  Tunis 

Van  Vechten,  Esq.,  Counsellor  at  Law. 

****** 

"  The  sole  design  of  the  institution  is  the  education  of 
females. 

"  Mr  Lebbeus  Booth,  A.  M.,  is  Principal.  Mr  Frederick 
Matthews,  A.  M.,  Assistant. 

"  This  stone  is  laid  in  the  fear  of  Jehovah,  the  God  of 
Knowledge  and  commended  to  his  protection  and  favor. 

"  Done  at  the  City  of  Albany  this  26th  day  of  June,  a.  d., 
1821. 

"  Chauncey  Mills  and  Stephen  J.  Rider.  Builders." 

This  corner  stone  and  its  contents  are  now  preserved  and 
may  be  seen  in  the  study  hall  of  the  present  Academy. 

32 


The  Siicoxii   Bliliung,   i8ji 


Centennial  Celebration 

The  building  was  completed  and  occupied  in  November, 
1821.  The  Rules  and  Regulations  for  the  institution  first 
promulgated  after  the  incorporation  provided  that  "  the  teach- 
ers for  the  present  shall  consist  of  a  principal  and  one  male 
and  one  female  assistant."  The  i)upils  were  classified  into 
three  departments  "  according  to  the  progress  they  shall  have 
made  in  their  education  and  not  according  to  their  age."  It 
is  interesting  to  note  that  in  the  highest  department  there  was 
a  course  in  General  History  as  well  as  an  epitome  of  Sacred 
and  Ecclesiastical  History;  Blair's  Lectures  on  Rhetoric  and 
Belle-lettres  and  Lord  Kane's  Elements  of  Criticism  were 
taught,  and  also  in  the  language  of  the  regulations,  "  such 
parts  of  Paley's  Moral  Philosophy  as  are  suited  to  the  char- 
acter and  condition  of  females."  This  was  before  the  days 
when  the  Academy  had  a  woman  for  principal  and  before 
women  were  chosen  to  serve  on  the  board  of  trustees  and 
the  language  employed  in  framing  the  rules  was  undoubtedly 
that  of  some  "  mere  man." 

Erench  was  added  to  the  course  in  1824  and  Latin  in  1825. 

While  serving  as  principal  Mr  Booth  was  married  to  the 
daughter  of  Ebenezer  and  Betsey  Eoot.  In  deference  to  the 
"  high  cost  of  living  "  at  the  tiipe,  the  trustees  voted  that  he 
should  be  paid  at  the  rate  of  $100  per  annum  since  his  mar- 
riage, in  addition  to  his  stated  salary  of  $1,000.  to  be  regarded 
however  wholly  as  a  gratuity  at  the  pleasure  of  the  board  and 
not  to  oblige  it  to  pay  anything  if  the  state  of  the  funds  in 
the  treasury  did  not  warrant. 

This  generous  provision  for  the  benefit  of  himself  and  his 
new  wife  did  not  attract  them  very  long,  for  the  next  year 
he  resigned  his  place  to  establish  a  seminary  for  young  ladies. 
at   r.nllston,  and  was  succeeded  as  principal  by  his  assistant, 

33 


Albany  Academy  for  Girls 

Frederick  Matthews.  The  latter  served  with  great  credit  a 
little  more  than  two  years  when  he  resigned.  Alonzo  Critten- 
den was  chosen  principal  in  his  stead  and  he  proved  to  be  an 
excellent  selection.  He  was  a  graduate  of  Union  College  and 
served  as  principal  for  a  period  of  nearly  twenty  years  with 
great  fidelity  and  ability. 

Soon  after  he  took  the  position,  the  school,  through  his 
influence  and  that  of  Gideon  Hawley,  who  was  still  Secretary 
of  the  Board  of  Regents,  in  December,  1827,  was  placed  under 
the  "  visitation  and  control  of  the  Regents  of  the  University  " 
and  it  thus  became  the  first  "  school  for  females  "  in  the  state 
to  achieve  that  distinction.  This  relation  has  continued  ever 
since  with  a  short  interim  between  1866  and  1873,  during 
which  time  there  was  a  shortsighted  disinclination  on  the  part 
of  the  authorities  of  the  school  to  comply  with  some  of  the 
requirements  of  the  Regents. 

During  nearly  all  the  time  of  Mr  Crittenden's  service  as 
principal  the  Academy  enjoyed  a  high  degree  of  prosperity. 
Shortly  after  his  selection  it  was  apparent  that  additional 
room  must  be  provided  for  the  growing  needs  of  the  school. 
Another  building  was  accordingly  erected  in  the  rear  of  the 
main  edifice  and  connected  with  it  by  corridors.  It  was  com- 
pleted and  occupied  in  May,  1828.  They  were  described  in  the 
Academy  circulars  as  "  two  spacious  buildings  erected  with  a 
particular  regard  to  the  best  accommodation  of  the  several 
departments."  The  institution,  so  it  is  stated  in  the  circular, 
"  is  situated  on  Montgomery  street,  a  street  east  of  one  of  the 
principal  business  avenues  of  the  city.  *  *  *  Perhaps  no 
situation  could  have  been  selected  better  adapted  to  the  pur- 
pose of  such  an  institution,  as  it  is  unusually  pleasant  and 
retired  from  the  ordinary  confusion  and  noise  of  the  city." 

34 


Cexte.vxial  Celebration 

This  had  reference  to  a  location  which  is  now  adjacent  to  the 
present  railroad  station.  It  was  before  the  days  when  the 
screechings  of  locomotive  whistles  and  the  noises  of  engine 
bells  disturbed  the  quiet  of  the  neighborhood  and  before  the 
smoke  arising  from  the  burning  of  soft  coal  was  present  to 
disturb  our  linen  and  our  esthetic  tastes. 

The  "  spacious  buildings  "  in  ]vIontgomery  street  did  not 
serve  their  purpose  very  long.  They  were  soon  outgrown. 
The  Academy  was  not  driven  out  of  them  by  the  advent  of 
the  steam  whistle  but  by  the  growth  of  the  school. 

A  new  site  was  accordingly  purchased  on  the  west  side  of 
North  Pearl  street,  where  the  Drislane  store  is  now  located, 
and  here  at  a  cost  of  about  ^^34,000  for  lot  and  building,  an 
imposing  new  Academy  building  was  erected,  which  has  always 
been  looked  back  to  with  pride  by  all  associated  with  the 
Academy  during  its  occupancy.  It  was  classic  in  appearance 
with  a  beautiful  Hexa  style  portico  of  the  Grecian  Ionic  order. 
It  is  stated  that  the  proportions  of  the  columns,  capitals,  bases 
and  entablature  were  copied  from  the  temple  on  the  Ilissus, 
one  of  the  most  beautiful  examples  of  the  Ionic  among  the 
remains  of  antiquity.  It  was  formally  dedicated  on  May  12th, 
1834,  the  Rev.  Dr  John  Ludlow,  then  President  of  the  Board 
of  Trustees,  delivering  the  dedicatory  address. 

W'lun  this  building  was  first  occupied  there  were  ten 
teachers  besides  the  principal,  and  the  school  had  increased 
so  it  was  classified  in  six  departments.  There  were  times  in 
that  building  when  there  were  twenty  teachers  in  the  various 
departments  and  upwards  of  500  pui)ils. 

During  the  nearly  sixty  years  of  the  occupancy  of  that 
building  there  were  several  changes  in  the  principalship  of 
the   Academy.     L.  Sprague   Parsons,  A.   M.,   succeeded   Mr 

35 


Albany  Academy  for  Girls 

Crittenden  in  1845,  the  latter  having  resigned  to  accept  the 
principalship  of  the  Brooklyn  Female  Academy.  Mr  Par- 
sons was  a  young  man  of  36  at  the  time  and  a  graduate  of 
Yale  College.  After  giving  satisfactory  service  for  ten  years 
he  resigned  to  engage  in  business  at  Cohoes.  He  was  suc- 
ceeded in  1855  by  Rev.  Eben  S.  Stearns,  a  graduate  of  Harvard, 
principal  of  the  State  Normal  School  at  Framingham,  Mass., 
and  a  brother  of  President  Stearns  of  Amherst  College.  He 
was  the  efficient  head  of  the  school  for  thirteen  years,  and 
resigned  in  1868.  During  a  year's  absence  in  Europe,  the 
school  was  served  by  his  assistant,  Miss  Caroline  G.  Greely, 
afterwards  Mrs  J.  S.  White,  as  principal  pro  tern.  After  he 
resigned  she  was  chosen  principal  in  his  stead.  She  resigned 
after  serving  in  that  capacity  for  a  single  year,  but  she  has 
the  distinction  of  being  the  first  woman  who  became  principal 
of  the  Academy.  Her  place  was  taken  in  1869  by  Miss  Louise 
Ostrom,  who  gave  ten  years  of  devoted  service  as  head  of  the 
school.  When  she  resigned  in  1879  the  mistake  was  made  of 
again  selecting  a  man  for  principal  in  the  person  of  Wm.  G. 
Nowell.  He  proved  so  unsatisfactory  that  he  was  asked  to 
resign  in  the  midst  of  his  first  school  year.  Miss  Lucy  A. 
Plympton,  who  was  then  successfully  conducting  a  school 
for  girls  in  the  city,  was  then  selected  as  principal.  Her 
school  was  combined  with  the  Academy  with  great  benefit  to 
both.  She  had  the  distinction  of  being  the  last  principal  in 
the  old  building  in  North  Pearl  street  and  the  first  in  the 
new  home  for  the  school  at  155  Washington  avenue,  which 
was  occupied  for  the  first  time  in  1892.  V/hile  she  resigned 
her  place  in  the  school  some  years  since,  she  is  still  with  us, 
an  honored  guest  of  this  occasion  and  looked  up  to  with 
veneration  and  afifection  not  only  by  all  of  her  former  pupils, 

36 


Centennial  Celebration 

who  are  numbered  by  hundreds,  but  by  all  who  have  ever  been 
favored  with  her  acquaintance.  She  was  succeeded  in  1901 
by  Miss  Esther  Louise  Camp,  the  present  head  of  the 
Academy,  under  whose  efficient  management  during  the  past 
thirteen  years  the  school  has  enjoyed  a  remarkable  degree 
of  prosperity  and  has  been  fulfilling  its  high  mission  in  the 
training  of  our  young  women  as  well  as  at  any  time  in  its 
long  history. 

It  would  be  interesting,  if  time  afforded,  to  make  mention 
of  many  other  teachers  in  the  school,  besides  those  who  have 
stood  at  the  head  of  it,  for  a  large  number  of  them  have  left 
records  that  deserve  notice.  This,  however,  cannot  be  done, 
but  reference  will  be  made  to  two  whose  fame  is  secure  but 
whose  relation  to  the  school  may  have  been  forgotten  by 
some. 

Stephen  J.  Field,  of  Haddam,  Conn.,  came  to  the  Academy 
as  an  assistant  teacher  in  1839  and  taught  for  several  years, 
receiving  the  munificent  salary  of  $500  per  annum.  He  had 
graduated  from  Williams  College  when  IMark  Hopkins  was 
president  and  was  the  valedictorian  of  his  class.  He  was  a 
son  of  the  Rev.  David  Dudley  Field,  D.  D.,  a  brother  of  Cyrus 
W.  Field,  who  laid  the  first  Atlantic  cable ;  of  David  Dudley 
Field,  the  eminent  lawyer ;  and  of  Rev.  Henry  M.  Field,  the 
distinguished  clergyman,  author  and  editor.  His  sister.  Mary 
E.  Field  was  a  pupil  in  the  Academy  before  he  came  and  was 
one  of  the  prize  scholars  in  1838,  1839  and  1840.  Another 
sister  was  the  mother  of  the  late  David  J.  Brewer.  Associate 
Justice  of  the  United  States  Supreme  Court.  In  the  report 
of  the  Academy  to  the  Regents  in  1840.  in  making  mention  of 
the  teachers  then  employed,  it  is  said:  "  Stephen  J.  Field  is 
about  twenty-one  years  of  age.  a  graduate  of  Williams  Col- 

37 


Albany  Academy  for  Girls 

lege,  Mass.,  has  been  a  teacher  most  of  the  time  for  the  last 
three  years  and  has  the  practice  of  law  ultimately  in  view." 
He  had  in  fact  studied  law  for  a  time  in  the  office  of  Har- 
manus  Bleecker,  and  while  here  also  he  was  in  the  office  of 
John  Van  Buren,  afterwards  Attorney-General,  who  then  had 
his  law  office  on  State  street.  That  he  succeeded  as  a  lawyer 
after  he  left  the  service  of  the  Academy  is  evident  from  his 
subsequent  career.  He  went  to  California  in  the  early  days, 
soon  after  his  admission  to  the  bar  and  became  Chief  Justice 
of  the  Supreme  Court  of  that  state.  While  serving  in  that 
office  he  was  appointed  by  President  Lincoln  in  1863  as  Asso- 
ciate Justice  of  the  Supreme  Court  of  the  United  States  and 
served  in  that  great  court  for  thirty-four  years,  a  service 
longer  than  that  of  any  other  man  since  the  organization  of 
the  court,  not  even  excepting  the  great  Chief  Justice,  John 
Marshall,  who  served  for  thirty-three  years.  A  splendid  oil 
portrait  of  Judge  Field  adorns  the  study  hall  of  the  Academy, 
a  gift  from  the  well  known  artist  who  painted  it,  the  late 
Asa  W.  Twitchell. 

A  teacher  in  the  Academy  who  gave  his  life  to  the  cause  of 
science  should  not  be  forgotten.  Dr  August  Sonntag.  while 
serving  as  Associate  Director  of  Dudley  Observatory  under 
Gen.  Ormsby  McKnight  Mitchell,  who  was  Director  of  that 
institution,  was  the  teacher  of  Astronomy  in  the  Academy. 
He  and  Dr  Isaac  I.  Hayes  had  been  members  of  Dr  Kane's 
expedition  which  returned  from  the  Arctic  regions  in  1855. 
Dr  Hayes  organized  an  expedition  in  i860  to  complete  the 
survey  of  the  north  coasts  of  Greenland  and  Grinnell  land 
and  to  make  such  explorations  as  he  could  find  practicable  in 
the  direction  of  the  North  Pole.  He  deemed  himself  for- 
tunate in  securing  the  consent  of  his  former  companion  and 

38 


Centennial  Celebration 

friend,  Dr  Sonntag,  to  accompany  him  as  astronomer  and 
second  in  command.  At  the  commencement  exercises  of  the 
Academy  held  on  June  22,  i860,  Prof.  Stearns,  the  principal, 
in  a  formal  address,  presented  Dr  Sonntag  with  a  splendid 
national  flag  on  behalf  of  the  young  ladies  of  the  graduating 
class,  as  a  testimonial  of  their  personal  regard  and  in  appre- 
ciation of  the  excellence  of  his  instructions.  Dr  Sonntag 
made  a  feeling  response  and  promised  to  plant  the  flag  at  the 
nearest  point  to  the  pole  which  the  expedition  could  reach. 
Two  weeks  afterwards,  bearing  the  flag  with  him.  he  sailed 
from  Boston  in  the  Schooner  United  States  with  Dr  Hayes, 
on  the  voyage  of  discovery.  In  December  following,  just 
after  passing  the  long  Arctic  midnight,  Dr  Sonntag  started 
out  from  winter  quarters  at  "  Port  Foulke "  on  the  west 
coast  of  Greenland,  with  a  team  of  dogs  and  a  single  Esqui- 
mau companion  on  a  journey  across  the  ice  from  a  hundred 
to  a  hundred  and  fifty  miles  distant  southerly  to  Northum- 
berland Island  in  search  for  dogs,  for  all  those,  belonging  to 
the  expedition,  except  one  team,  had  been  carried  off  by  an 
epidemic  among  them  during  the  winter. 

Dr  Hayes,  in  his  "  Open  Polar  Sea,"  under  date  of  Decem- 
ber 2^,  1860,  the  next  day  after  his  companion  had  loft  on 
this  journey,  writes :  "  I  had  a  strange  dream  last  night, 
which  I  cannot  help  mentioning;  and  were  1  disposed  to  super- 
stition, it  might  incline  me  to  read  in  it  an  omen  of  evil. 
I  stood  with  Sonntag  far  out  on  the  frozen  sea.  when  sud- 
denly a  crash  was  heard  through  the  darkness,  and  in  an 
instant  a  crack  opened  in  the  ice  between  us.  It  came  so  sud- 
denly and  widened  so  rapidly  that  he  could  not  spring  over 
it  to  where  1  stood,  and  he  sailed  away  ui)on  the  dark  waters 
of  a  troubled  sea.     I  last  saw  him  standing  firmly  upon  the 

39 


Albany  Academy  for  Girls 

crystal  raft,  his  erect  form  cutting  sharply  against  a  streak 
of  light  which  lay  upon  the  distant  horizon." 

New  Year's  day  came  and  Dr  Hayes  began  to  look  anxiously 
for  the  return  of  his  friend,  but  as  he  knew  of  his  desire  to 
study  the  language  and  habits  of  the  natives  he  was  not  greatly 
surprised  at  his  delay.  A  full  month  passed  and  still  no  tid- 
ings came.  It  came  to  be  evident  that  Sonntag  had  met  with 
an  accident  or  had  been  detained  in  some  unaccountable  man- 
ner among  the  natives.  Unavailing  efforts  were  made  with 
the  meager  means  at  hand  to  learn  what  had  happened.  Just 
as  an  expedition  was  starting  out  upon  a  search,  two  Esqui- 
maux came  to  the  ship  with  the  information  that  Sonntag 
was  dead.  Two  days  later  his  sole  companion  came  back  and 
reported  that,  having  become  chilled  by  riding  on  the  sledge, 
he  sprang  off  and  ran  ahead  of  the  dogs  to  warm  himself  with 
the  exercise.  He  came  upon  thin  ice  covering  a  recently 
opened  tide  crack,  which  he  stepped  on  unawares  and  broke 
through.  His  companion  was  able  to  rescue  him  from  the 
water  but  he  died  the  same  day  from  the  exposure.  Dr 
Hayes'  dream  had  become  a  prophecy  realized.  A  few  weeks 
afterwards  his  body  was  recovered  and  brought  back  to  the 
ship  with  some  difficulty.  A  neat  coffin  was  made,  the 
Academy  flag  was  used  as  a  pall,  a  burial  service  was  read 
by  Dr  Hayes  and  his  remains  were  lowered  to  their  last  rest- 
ing place  in  a  grave  dug  in  the  frozen  terrace.  Afterwards  a 
neatly  shaped  mound  of  stones  was  built  over  the  grave  and 
a  chiseled  slab  was  erected  bearing  a  cross  and  the  words : 

August  Sonntag 

Died 
December  i860 
Aged  28  years 

40 


Centennial  Celebration 

"  And  Iiere,"  says  Dr  Hayes,  "  in  the  drear  solitude  of  the 
Arctic  desert  our  comrade  sleeps  the  sleep  that  knows  no 
waking  in  this  troubled  world — where  no  loving  hands  can 
ever  come  to  strew  his  grave  with  flowers,  nor  eyes  grow 
dim  with  sorrowing;  but  the  gentle  stars,  which  in  life  he 
loved  so  well,  will  keep  over  him  eternal  vigil,  and  the  winds 
will  wail  over  him,  and  Nature,  his  mistress,  will  drop  upon 
his  tomb  her  frozen  tears  forevermore." 

Dr  Hayes  reports  that  on  May  i8  and  19,  1861,  when  he 
had  arrived  at  the  most  northern  land  which  up  to  that  time 
had  ever  been  reached  (latitude  81°  35',  longitude  70°  30'  W.) 
the  flags  which  he  bore,  including  the  one  which  had  been 
committed  to  Dr  Sonntag  by  the  ladies  of  the  Albany  Female 
Academy,  were  unfurled  to  the  breeze  and  remained  while 
his  party  were  building  a  cairn  to  mark  the  spot. 

Dr  Hayes,  whom  it  was  my  pleasure  to  know  well,  when 
many  years  afterwards  he  served  as  a  member  of  Assembly 
in  this  state,  carefully  guarded  the  flag  and  brought  it  back 
to  the  Academy  in  October,  1862,  as  an  almost  sacred  memento 
of  the  loved  teacher  and  friend  who  had  gone  out  from  us, 
never  to  return,  but  never  to  be  forgotten. 

The  Academy  made  a  radical  change  in  location  in  1892. 
Instead  of  Pearl  street  being  the  (|uiet  residence  thorough- 
fare which  it  formerly  was  it  had  become  one  of  the  chief 
commercial  centers  of  the  city,  the  street  was  congested  with 
business  traffic  and  trolley  cars  were  many  and  frequent.  It 
had  become  unsuited  to  a  girls'  school,  and  it  was  determined 
to  move  to  the  hill.  The  residence  of  the  late  Amos  P. 
Palmer  at  155  Washington  aveiuie  was  purchased  and  the 
present  commodious  school  building  was  erected  in  the  rear 
of  the  dwelling  with  an  entrance  from  the  street.    The  expense 

41 


Albany  Academy  for  Girls 

of  the  new  property  was  met  from  the  proceeds  of  the  sale 
of  the  Pearl  street  property,  which  had  largely  increased  in 
value,  and  by  the  generous  contributions  of  our  citizens.  Here 
the  school  has  had  its  home  ever  since. 

In  deference  to  a  cjuite  prevalent  sentiment  among  its 
teachers,  students  and  younger  graduates,  the  Legislature,  in 
1906,  changed  the  corporate  name  from  the  Albany  Female 
Academy  to  the  Albany  Academy  for  Girls.  (Ch.  15,  Laws 
1906.) 

The  success  of  the  Academy  during  its  century  of  existence 
is  undoubtedly  chiefly  due  to  its  several  principals  who  have 
served  it  so  faithfully  and  to  the  devoted  teachers  who  have 
assisted  them  in  one  capacity  or  another,  but  on  an  occasion 
like  this  it  seems  fitting  to  make  brief  personal  mention  of 
some  of  its  officers  and  trustees  who  have  guided  its  business 
interests  and  looked  after  its  material  welfare. 

Its  first  president  w^as  the  great  equity  Judge,  Chancellor 
James  Kent,  whose  name  is  revered  w^ith  that  of  Sir  William 
Blackstone,  as  the  two  really  great  commentators  on  the  Eng- 
lish Common  Law.  He  was  appointed  an  Associate  Justice 
of  the  Supreme  Court  of  the  State  in  1798.  The  next  year 
he  removed  from  his  home  in  New  York  to  Albany  to  be 
more  centrally  located  on  his  circuit  and  as  he  said.  "'  not  to 
be  too  much  from  home."  He  had  been  married  at  twenty- 
one,  to  use  his  own  words,  "  to  a  charming  and  lovely  girl," 
Elizabeth  Bailey,  who  was,  as  he  says,  the  "  idol  and  solace  " 
of  his  life.  This  undoubtedly  accounts  for  his  not  desiring 
to  be  too  much  from  home,  and  also  for  the  fact  that  he 
resided  here  in  1804  when  appointed  Chief  Justice  of  the 
Supreme  Court  and  in  1814  when  appointed  Chancellor  of 
the  State.    He  was  one  of  the  founders  of  the  school  that  his 

42 


Centennial  Celebration 

daughter  might  have  its  advantages  and  he  served  as  presi- 
dent of  the  Academy  until  he  retired  from  liis  judicial  office 
on  December  31,  1823.  He  returned  to  his  old  home  in  New 
York  after  a  residence  here  of  nearly  twenty-five  years,  but 
during  all  the  remainder  of  his  life  retained  a  deep  interest 
in  the  Academy. 

Since  his  day  there  have  been  nine  presidents  of  the  board 
of  trustees,  four  of  whom,  in  succession,  were  eminent 
clerg}men  of  the  city  and  after  them  five  who  were  or  had 
been  Justices  of  the  Supreme  Court,  one  of  whom  had  also 
been  Governor  of  the  state. 

Chancellor  Kent  was  succeeded  in  1824  as  president  by 
Rev.  Dr  John  Chester,  who  was  a  graduate  of  Yale  College  in 
the  class  with  James  Fenimore  Cooper  and  \'ice-President  and 
Senator  John  C.  Calhoun.  Dr  Chester  w-as  pastor  of  the 
Second  Presbyterian  Church  here  at  the  time  of  his  election. 
He  was  a  man  of  ample  fortune,  which  he  dispensed  with  a 
generosity  that  apparently  was  never  exhausted.  Of  him  it 
has  been  said  that  "  the  loveliness  of  his  character,  the  purity 
of  his  life  and  the  faithfulness  of  his  ministry  "  left  an  im- 
press upon  this  city  that  has  borne  fruit  for  its  betterment 
ever  since. 

He  was  followed,  upon  his  death  in  1829.  by  the  selection 
as  president  of  Rev.  Isaac  Ferris,  D.  D..  pastor  of  the  Second 
Reformed  Church — then  located  on  Beaver  street  but  now 
situated  at  the  corner  of  Madison  avenue  and   Swan   street. 

Rev.  John  Ludlow,  D.  D.,  i)astor  of  the  I'irst  Reformed 
Church  at  the  corner  of  Xorth  Pearl  and  Orange  streets,  suc- 
ceeded Dr  l*"erris  as  president  when  the  latter  was  compelled 
to  resign  on  account  of  ill  health  in  1831.     When  he  resigned 

43 


Albany  Academy  for  Girls 

the  office  in  1834  Dr  Ferris,  with  restored  heahh,  was  again 
chosen  to  fill  his  old  position. 

He  laid  it  down  again  in  1836  and  Rev.  Dr  John  N.  Camp- 
bell, then  pastor  of  the  First  Presbyterian  Church — and  after- 
wards Regent  of  the  University — was  chosen  as  his  successor. 
He  held  the  office  nearly  seven  years  and  then  resigned  at  a 
time  when  the  institution  was  passing  through  perhaps  the 
most  troublesome  times  in  its  history. 

The  Academy  had  been  organized  as  a  strictly  non-sectarian 
school  where  young  women,  whether  Protestant  or  Catholic, 
Gentile  or  Jew,  would  be  received  on  equal  terms  and  enjoy 
equal  privileges.  This  idea  happily  has  always  been  promi- 
nent in  the  school  and  while  the  upbuilding  of  high  moral 
character  in  the  pupils  has  always  been  its  highest  aim,  no 
student,  it  is  believed,  has  ever  had  just  cause  to  complain 
because  of  any  attempt  to  influence  her  religious  convictions. 
The  non-denominational  and  non-sectarian  character  of  the 
school  has  been,  next  to  the  devotion  of  its  teachers,  its 
greatest  source  of  strength. 

To  make  this  idea  more  pronounced  no  clerg}'man  has  ever 
since  the  resignation  of  Dr  Campbell  been  chosen  a  president 
although  many  have  since  served  as  trustees. 

The  business  and  financial  troubles  through  which  the 
Academy  were  passing  induced  the  selection  of  Greene  C. 
Bronson  as  president  in  1843.  He  accepted  the  office  at  a 
considerable  sacrifice.  He  had  been  Attorney-General  of  the 
State,  was  then  serving  as  a  Justice  of  the  Supreme  Court  and 
was  soon  afterwards  appointed  Chief  Justice. 

When  he  retired  from  the  bench  he  removed  to  New  York 
and  was  succeeded  as  president  in  1850  by  ex-Governor  Wm. 
L.  Marcy,  one  of  the  most  eminent  jurists  and  statesmen  of 

44 


Centexxial  Celebration 

the  country.  He  had  served  as  a  Heutenant  in  the  war  of 
1812.  He  had  been  the  Adjutant  General  and  Comptroller  of 
the  State  and  Regent  of  the  University.  He  had  served  with 
credit  for  several  years  as  Justice  of  the  Supreme  Court  and 
as  United  States  Senator.  While  holding  the  latter  office  he 
was  elected  as  Governor  of  the  state  and  served  as  such  for 
three  terms.  He  ran  for  a  fourth  term  but  was  defeated  by 
Wm.  H.  Seward.  He  was  Secretary  of  War  in  President 
Polk's  cabinet  and  Secretary  of  State  in  President  Pierce's. 

When  he  retired  as  president  of  the  board  of  trustees  in 
1855  he  was  succeeded  by  Judge  Amasa  J.  Parker,  who  held 
the  office  for  twenty-four  years,  and  he  in  turn  was  succeeded 
in  1879  by  Judge  William  L.  Learned,  who  held  it  for  twenty- 
five  years. 

Judge  Parker  had  a  remarkable  career  as  a  lawyer,  states- 
man and  jurist.  He  held  the  offices  of  Surrogate  and  District 
Attorney  of  Delaware  County  and  also  Member  of  the  Assem- 
bly. He  was  also  Member  of  Congress,  Regent  of  the  Uni- 
versity, Circuit  Judge,  Justice  of  the  Supreme  Court  and  as 
such  served  for  two  years  in  the  Court  of  Appeals.  He  was 
twice  the  candidate  of  his  party  for  Governor  of  the  state 
and  was  a  member  of  the  Constitutional  Convention  of  1867. 

Judge  Learned  was  an  able  scholar  and  a  distinguished 
jurist.  He  was  a  graduate  of  Yale  College  and  for  twenty- 
three  years  was  a  Justice  of  the  Supreme  Court,  during  seven- 
teen of  which  he  was  the  presiding  Justice  of  the  General 
Term  of  that  court,  in  the  Third  Department. 

Upon  his  death  in  1904  he  was  succeeded  as  president  by 
the  present  incumbent  of  the  office. 

The  Academy  was  organized  under  the  act  of  incorpora- 
tion, as  a  stock  corporation  with  shares  of  $50  each.     The 

45 


Albany  Academy  for  Girls 

buildings  which  it  erected  in  Montgomery  street  and  Pearl 
street  were  largely  paid  for  by  the  proceeds  of  the  sale  of 
stock.  Annual  dividends  of  six  per  cent,  were  paid  on  the 
stock  for  a  number  of  years  and  a  considerable  surplus  was 
applied  to  the  purchase  of  a  library  and  apparatus  for  the 
school.  The  cost  of  the  Pearl  street  building  and  lot  was 
considerably  more  than  the  highest  estimates  and  the  trustees 
in  consequence  incurred  debts  amounting  to  over  $18,000. 
After  carrying  this  burden  for  a  number  of  years  they  deter- 
mined that  no  more  dividends  should  be  declared  until  all 
debts  were  paid.  This  resulted  in  some  criticism  among  a 
few  of  the  subscribers  to  the  stock  and  in  a  call  for  a  general 
meeting  of  stockholders.  At  this  meeting  a  committee  of 
stockholders  who  were  not  trustees  was  appointed  to  examine 
into  the  condition  of  the  Academy.  The  report  of  this  com- 
mittee was  presented  at  a  later  meeting,  which  was  largely 
attended,  which  was  held  at  the  Academy  March  15,  1843, 
and  after  a  full  discussion  it  was,  with  only  a  few  dissenting 
votes,  voted  "  that  the  stockholders  are  satisfied  with  the  man- 
agement and  mode  of  conducting  the  institution  by  the  trustees 
and  with  the  integrity,  ability  and  faithfulness  of  the  prin- 
cipal and  teachers  and  that  the  Academy  deserves  the  public 
support  and  confidence  which  has  heretofore  so  eminently 
distinguished  it." 

During  this  controversy,  the  Rev.  Dr  Campbell  resigned  as 
trustee  and  president  of  the  board,  because  of  dift'erences  he 
had  with  Alonzo  Crittenden,  who  had  then  for  nineteen  years 
been  principal  of  the  school.  Dr  Campbell  was  succeeded  as 
president,  in  1843.  ^y  Ji^'<^lge  Greene  C.  Bronson  and  ]Mr  Crit- 
tenden gave  way  to  L.  Sprague  Parsons  as  principal  in  1845. 
They  came  to  the  Academy  in  the  darkest  hour  of  its  existence 

46 


Cextexxial  Celebration 

when  it  was  borne  down  with  this  heavy  debt  and  when  it  was 
embroiled  with  many  contentions  of  a  more  or  less  bitter  char- 
acter, which  seemed  at  times  to  threaten  its  very  existence. 
Prior  to  1850,  when  Judge  Bronson  resigned  to  go  to  Xew 
York  to  live,  the  entire  debt  was  paid,  harmony  of  action  was 
restored  and  the  institution  entered  upon  a  new  career  of 
prosperity.  The  spirit  which  prompted  those  most  directly 
concerned  in  the  financial  affairs  of  the  school  was  shown 
within  a  few  years  by  the  great  liberality  of  the  stockholders 
in  cheerfully  relinquishing  all  expectations  of  dividends  from 
the  institution  other  than  those  to  be  derived  by  the  entire  com- 
munity, from  the  elevated  standard  of  education  maintained 
by  it.  From  that  day  to  the  present  its  certificates  of  stock 
have  been  held  as  interesting  souvenirs  of  its  early  history ; 
there  has  been  nothing  of  the  "  proprietory  "  order  about  the 
Academy  and  all  its  income  has  been  devoted  to  the  promotion 
of  its  welfare  and  of  the  pupils  intrusted  to  its  care. 

In  the  long  list  of  names  of  those  who  have  served  as 
trustees  there  are  many  worthy  of  mention  on  an  occasion 
like  this,  but  the  limits  of  time  forbid.  An  exception  must 
be  made,  however,  with  respect  to  two. 

One  of  these,  Thomas  W.  Olcott.  served  as  such  for  forty- 
six  years,  from  1834  until  his  death  in  1880.  He  appeared 
first  as  a  subscriber  for  capital  stock  and  a  patron  of  the 
school  in  1828.  When  he  thus  early  became  interested  in  the 
Academy,  it  found  a  valued  friend.  When  he  accepted  mem- 
bership in  its  board  of  trustees  it  liad  a  safe  adviser  and  one 
who  was  able  and  ever  ready,  in  storm  as  well  as  in  sunshine, 
to  guide  its  course  aright.  His  zeal  in  its  interest  and  his 
generosity  led  him  to  purchase  the  shares  of  many  fault-find- 
ing stockholders,   in  order  to  eliminate  their  infiuence.     He 

47 


Albany  Academy  for  Girls 

came  to  be  regarded  by  general  consent  as  the  great  banker 
of  Albany.  He  was,  as  well,  a  financier  with  a  reputation 
second  to  none  in  the  entire  country.  In  1863  he  declined 
the  office  of  First  Comptroller  of  the  Currency,  tendered  to 
him  by  President  Lincoln.  He  would  hold  no  office  either  in 
the  gift  of  the  state  or  in  that  of  the  board  of  trustees,  but 
he  was  a  man  that  all  officers  looked  up  to  for  guidance  and 
direction.  When  the  Academy  was  passing  through  the  finan- 
cial vicissitudes  following  the  debts  it  had  incurred  in  build- 
ing the  North  Pearl  street  edifice,  while  it  was  struggling  with 
dissatisfied  stockholders  whose  dividends  had  ceased,  and 
when  the  president  and  several  trustees  resigned  their  posi- 
tions, he  it  was  who  influenced  his  friends,  Judge  Bronson  to 
take  the  presidency,  and  Governor  William  L.  Marcy  to  come 
into  the  board  as  trustee.  It  did  not  take  long  for  names 
and  men  like  these  to  bring  back  confidence  where  it  was  lack- 
ing. Restored  confidence  soon  brought  new  students  in  great 
numbers  and  increased  revenues  and  in  turn  an  elimination  of 
the  entire  debt.  It  was  Mr  Olcott's  influence  and  guidance, 
supported  by  these  true  friends,  that  brought  sunshine  out 
of  shadow  and  laid  the  foundations  of  financial  stability  upon 
which  the  institution  has  ever  since  stood.  His  great  service 
to  the  Academy  has  not  only  been  reflected  but  added  to  by 
his  sons,  the  late  Comptroller  Frederick  P.  Olcott  as  evi- 
denced by  his  generous  gift  of  $25,000  to  its  endowment,  and 
Dudley  Olcott,  who  has  served  for  thirty-five  years  and  is 
still  serving  as  a  valued  trustee  and  the  treasurer  of  the 
Endowment  Fund. 

The  other  trustee  I  must  mention  was  the  late  Ira  Harris, 
Justice  of  the  Supreme  Court  and  United  States  Senator  from 
this  state.     He  served  in  the  board  a  period  of  forty-three 

48 


Centennial  Celebration 

years  from  1833  to  his  death  in  1876.  During  this  long  period 
he  gave  the  benefit  of  his  legal  advice  freely  to  the  institution 
and  was  the  successful  attorney  for  the  board  in  the  annoy- 
ing suit  brought  in  1833  against  the  Academy  by  Dr  Wm.  Bay 
the  owner  of  the  adjoining  property  on  the  north  of  its  Pearl 
street  building,  to  compel  it  to  remove  the  beautiful  Ionic 
portico  then  being  erected,  as  an  obstruction  to  the  street  and 
a  nuisance  to  his  property.  That  this  portico  and  its  columns 
were  erected  in  accordance  with  the  original  design  of  the 
architect,  and  graced  the  building  during  all  the  subsequent 
years  of  its  occupancy  by  the  Academy  is  due  largely  to  the 
legal  acumen  of  its  long  time  friend  and  trustee.  Ira  Harris. 

Besides  Mr  Dudley  Ulcott.  one  other  of  the  present  board 
of  trustees,  Dr  Samuel  B.  Ward,  has  also  served  for  thirty- 
five  years.  Dr  Frederic  P.  Curtis  has  a  record  of  over 
twenty-two  years  as  a  trustee;  Mr  Benjamin  \\'.  Arnold  and 
the  speaker  of  seventeen  years ;  Airs  George  Douglas  Miller 
and  Mrs  George  P.  Hilton  of  fourteen  years ;  Mr  J.  Townsend 
Lansing  and  Mr  Charles  J-  Buchanan  of  twelve  years;  Mr 
Joseph  A.  Lawson  of  ten  years ;  Rev.  Dr  Charles  A.  Rich- 
mond of  seven  years,  and  Dr  Edgar  A.  \'ander  Veer  of  three 
years.  Air  Wm.  L.  Learned  Peltz  has  within  this  month  been 
elected  to  succeed  David  A.  Thompson  who  recently  resigned 
after  twenty-two  years'  service  as  trustee,  during  twenty  of 
which  he  was  the  faithful  secretary  of  the  board. 

In  calling  the  roll  of  those  who  have  aided  in  making  the 
history  of  the  Academy  what  it  is  I  nuist  not  fail  to  mention 
a  few  who  never  held  any  official  relation  to  it  but  yet  have 
given  substantial  aid  as  members  of  examining  committees 
and  upon  commencement  occasions. 

Millard  Filmore,   President  of  the  United   States.   General 

49 


Albany  Academy  for  Girls 

John  A.  Dix.  Secretary  of  State  and  Superintendent  of  Com- 
mon Schools,  afterwards  Governor  of  the  State,  as  well  as 
Governors  William  H.  Seward,  Silas  Wright  and  Samuel  J. 
Tilden,  each  served  upon  committees  to  award  prizes.  Judge 
Alfred  Conkling,  father  of  Roscoe  Conkling,  John  Van  Buren, 
"  Prince  John,"  as  he  was  called,  son  of  President  Van 
Buren,  John  C.  Spencer,  Secretary  of  War  and  Secretary  of 
the  Treasury,  Alfred  B.  Street  and  John  G.  Saxe.  the  poets, 
Joel  T.  Headley,  the  historian,  Erastus  D.  Palmer,  the  sculp- 
tor, Thurlow  Weed,  the  editor  and  politician,  Thomas  Hun, 
the  physician,  Amos  Dean,  the  author  and  scholar,  Lyman 
Tremain  and  Hamilton  Harris,  the  lawyers  and  statesmen, 
Robert  H.  Pruyn,  Senior,  Lieutenant-Governor  and  Minister 
to  Japan,  Sanford  E.  Church,  Chief  Judge  of  the  Court  of 
Appeals,  General  Stewart  L.  Woodford,  Lieutenant-Governor 
and  orator,  Daniel  S.  Dickinson,  United  States  Senator,  and 
Right  Rev.  William  Croswell  Doane,  late  Bishop  of  Albany, 
each  served  in  the  same  capacity  and  some  of  them  many 
times.  Elaborate  reports  showing  the  results  of  their  labors, 
the  reasons  for  their  conclusions  and  giving  the  names  of  the 
young  ladies  who  were  the  fortunate  winners,  were  read  at 
the  commencements  by  them  and  are  spread  upon  the  minutes 
of  the  trustees. 

The  Academy  has  now  concluded  a  hundred  years  of  its  his- 
tory. It  has  the  unique  distinction  of  being  the  pioneer  school 
in  the  entire  country  for  the  better  education  of  women  which 
has  maintained  a  continuous  existence  throughout  the  century, 
and  also  of  being  the  first  school  for  girls  in  the  state  to 
come  under  the  jurisdiction  of  the  Board  of  Regents.  The 
past,  considering  the  many  difficulties  that  have  been  sur- 
mounted, has  been  one  of  remarkable  success.     No  institution 

50 


Cextexxial  Celebration 

has  trained  better  girls  or  trained  them  better  than  this.  Its 
graduates  are  scattered  all  over  the  world,  and  no  better  type 
of  womanhood  can  be  found  anywhere  than  that  represented 
by  them.  No  one  can  begin  to  measure  the  achievements  that 
have  been  wrought  as  a  result  of  the  teachings  they  have 
received. 

The  school  has  now  entered  upon  its  second  century.  What 
of  its  future?  May  it  not  receive  inspiration  from  its  past 
history  and  strive  for  still  better  results  in  the  years  to  come. 
Sheridan  once  said :  "  On  the  cultivation  of  the  mind  of 
women  depends  the  wisdom  of  men."  This  may  be  conceded 
and  may  it  be  an  added  inspiration.  May  the  Academy  go  on 
with  still  higher  aims  and  continue  in  the  future  as  in  the  past 
to  be  a  most  potent  agency  in  this  community  in  developing  a 
type  of  as  near  perfect  a  womanhood  among  its  pupils,  as  is 
possible  to  be  attained,  to  the  end  that  all  coming  under  its 
influence — men  and  women  alike — shall  reap  the  beneficent 
results  of  its  good  work. 


51 


Albany  Academy  for  Girls 


The  Responsibilities  of  Educated  Women 

Flavel  S.  Luther,  LL.D. 

Mr  Chairman,  Members  of  the  Board  of  Trustees  and  Fellow 
Citisenesses: 

Not  only  because  of  the  emergency  character  of  the 
speaker,  but  also  by  virtue  of  the  text  of  his  topic,  he  is 
scarcely  fitted  for  an  educational  address  of  this  sort.  I  have 
been  teaching  now  for  a  matter  of  forty-four  years,  and  it 
so  happens  that  only  during  one  of  these  years,  the  very  first 
one,  I  made  any  attempt  whatever  to  teach  girls,  and  that 
attempt  was  somewhat  unhappy  in  some  of  its  results.  It 
took  place  only  about  five  or  six  miles  from  where  we  are 
gathered  now.  It  was  at  the  Parish  School  of  the  Episcopal 
Church  of  what  was  then  West  Troy,  N.  Y.  I  had  some 
twenty  boys  and  some  twenty  girls.  It  seemed  to  me  there 
were  two  thousand  of  them.  I  was  then  about  twenty  years 
of  age  and  the  girls  were  not  less  than  seventeen  or  eighteen. 
I  had  a  rather  unhappy  time.  Since  then  I  have  put  myself 
in  charge  of  one  single  girl  and  she  has  been  educating  me 
ever  since. 

However,  I  suppose,  after  all.  the  story  of  the  education  of 
girls  in  this  country  is  to  follow  along  pretty  nearly  the  lines 
of  the  story  of  the  education  of  boys  and  young  men  in  this 
country.  There  is  no  doubt  about  that,  as  you  have  just  heard 
the  accounts  from  that  historical  address  to  which  we  have 
all  listened  with  such  pleasure.  And  how  much  we  might  have 
learned  out  of  it. 

52 


Centennial  Celebration 

Now  I  did  not  know  before  that  my  fellow  citizen  of  Con- 
necticut, Nathan  Hale,  whose  old  schoolhouse  is  only  a  few 
miles  from  Trinity  College,  had  to  teach  school  at  five  o'clock 
in  the  morning.  Don't  you  suppose  that  goes  some  little  way 
toward  an  explanation  of  the  singular  cheerfulness  with  which 
he  went  to  the  gallows?  But,  when  you  come  to  think  of  it, 
education  in  the  modern  sense  of  the  word  is  for  boys  and 
girls  alike  and  it  is  yet  modern  in  spite  of  your  one  hundred 
year  old  school.  What  a  hundred  years  it  has  been !  Why, 
the  difference  between  1814  and  1914  is  indefinitely  more  than 
the  difference  between  1814  and  no  hundred  and  14.  Bar- 
ring gun  powder  and  the  printing  press  the  activities  and 
conditions  of  life  changed  more  in  this  century  that  has  just 
been  completed  than  they  changed  from  the  days  of  Julius 
Caesar  to  the  time  when  this  school  was  founded.  Medical 
treatment  in  1814  was  not  a  bit  better.  George  Washington's 
surgeon  did  no  better  for  him  than  Julius  Caesar's  surgeon 
might  have  done  for  him.  Now  I  do  not  really  suppose  that 
the  whole  development  of  these  modern  times,  of  this  nine- 
teenth century  civilization  of  ours  with  its  wonderful  scientific 
and  economic  achievements  is  due  to  the  intluencc  of  this 
school,  with  whose  prosperity  and  welfare  we  are  so  much 
concerned.  You  did  not  do  it  all,  but  it  has  pretty  much  all 
taken  place  within  this  century  of  school  life  of  yours,  and  so 
I  cannot  help  thinking  that  perha|)s  from  the  inspiration  that 
founded  this  school  and  founded  at  the  same  time,  or  a  little 
before  and  a  little  after,  other  schools  for  men  and  women, 
has  arisen  the  astonishing  progress  that  has  been  made  in  this 
and  other  countries  where  education  on  a  higher  scale  has 
been  made  the  feature  of  the  history  of  the  la-t  century,  and 
particularly  the  last  half  century. 

53 


Albany  Academy  for  Girls 

We  have  in  this  country  a  great  many  things  we  can  be 
proud  of,  and  a  number  of  things  of  which  w'e  need  not  be 
so  proud.  It  is  not  true  that  we  have  the  best  school  system, 
for  our  schools  are  not  as  good  as  the  schools  of  Germany 
and  France,  and  they  are  not  as  good  as  some  of  the  schools 
in  Italy.  But  I  believe  we  are  responsible  for  this  theory  that 
it  is  the  business  of  the  state  somehow  to  educate  everybody. 
There  have  been  schools  a  long  while,  but  it  was  America  that 
first  said  everyone  shall  go  to  school.  Some  other  nations 
have  said  that,  but  they  said  it  after  we  did.  Now  that  was 
a  great  and  wonderful  step  in  human  development. 

Think  what  the  State  does.  It  says  to  the  father  and 
mother,  this  is  not  your  boy ;  this  is  not  your  girl ;  it  belongs 
to  us.  That  child  is  going  to  school  whether  you  like  it  or 
not,  father  or  mother.  That  child  is  going  to  study  certain 
things,  whether  you  approve  of  them  or  not,  parents.  That 
child  is  going  to  some  school  until  a  certain  age  and  we  are 
going  to  teach  him.  We  are  responsible,  and  you  "  go  way 
back  and  sit  down."  Now  that  is  a  wonderful  thing  for  the 
State  to  have  said.  Most  of  the  states  in  this  nation  of  ours 
have  said  so,  and  the  wonder  is  that  the  people  take  it  as 
calmly  as  they  do.  I  wonder  that  in  the  beginning  of  things 
they  submitted  to  it  without  a  great  deal  of  protest  and 
trouble,  for  it  was  a  new  thing  not  known  to  mankind.  It 
was  a  new  thought  in  the  evolution  of  civilization.  It  was 
the  beginning  of  a  new  day  for  humanity.  The  State  says, 
these  children  are  ours  and  they  shall  be  trained;  some,  any- 
how ;  and  I  wish  they  would  train  them  a  good  deal  more. 

Now,  as  I  say,  there  have  been  schools  for  a  long,  long 
while;  only  lately  schools  for  everybody,  but  schools  of  some 
kind,  and  they  have  had  two  diverse  objects,  as  to  the  relative 

54 


Centennial  Celebration 

importance  of  which  teachers  have  been  quarreling  ever  since 
there  were  pedagogues. 

There  were  the  schools  of  ancient  Athens,  splendid  schools 
producing  an  intellectual  type  which  perhaps  has  scarcely  been 
equalled  in  any  race  or  in  any  nation  since,  the  result  of 
which  was  something  very  fine  ;  trained  with  a  cultured  intel- 
lect, with  a  capacity  to  appreciate  the  beautiful,  with  an  under- 
standing of  art,  with  a  taste  and  capacity  for  literature  that, 
as  I  said  before,  has  scarcely  been  equalled  since.  That  was 
the  Greek  idea  of  the  training  of  men.  They  did  not  train 
the  women.  It  was  the  training  of  the  man  so  that  he  shall 
be  a  pleasant  comi)anion,  so  that  he  shall  be  separated  from 
the  common  herd,  so  that  he  shall  be  a  joy  to  himself,  so  that 
he  shall  be  a  fine  specimen  of  the  human  race.  That  was  the 
Greek  idea.  Well,  the  years  passed  on  and  the  Roman  power 
dominated  the  world  and  they  had  their  theory  of  education, 
which  was  the  training  of  men  to  be  the  servants  of  the  state  ; 
they  were  trained  as  to  their  efficiency  in  the  upbuilding  of 
the  republic  and  later  of  the  empire.  That  was  the  Roman 
idea,  to  make  a  servant.  The  Greek  ideal  was  self-improve- 
ment. The  Roman  ideal  was  self-sacrifice.  Those  were  the 
two  tendencies  in  education  which  struggled  against  each  other 
then  and  which  have  been  struggling  against  each  other  ever 
since.  Then,  in  the  time  which  we  call  the  dark  ages,  the 
monastic  schools  kept  alive  the  torch  of  learning  and.  the 
schools  of  knighthood  preserved  the  spirit  of  conservation  to 
service. 

Those  are  the  two  o])posing  opinions  of  what  education  is 
for.  one  which  says  the  intent  of  education  is  to  i)ro(luce  an 
individual  finer  than  the  rest,  able  to  appreciate  art.  literature 
and  science ;  able  to  be  a  friend  of  those  who  are  like  him- 

55 


Albany  Academy  for  Girls 

self,  able  to  understand  and  enjoy  much  more  than  his  less 
fortunate  neighbors.  That  is  the  kind  of  education  which 
produces  culture.  The  other  kind  is  that  which  has  in  view 
the  service  of  the  people  when  the  school  education  has 
ceased,  which  says  we  teach  you  all  these  things  not  in  order 
that  you  shall  get  more  out  of  the  world  than  you  otherwise 
would,  but  so  that  you  shall  be  able  and  willing  to  put  more 
into  the  world  than  you  otherwise  could,  and  that  is  the  idea 
of  the  Roman  education,  the  schooling  of  boys  and  girls  for 
some  kind  of  service.  Let  me  illustrate  that  to  you,  as  I  want 
to  leave  this  point  with  you,  that  there  are  two  different  kinds 
of  education.  Perhaps  some  of  you  do  not  appreciate  the  dis- 
tinction between  an  education  which  makes  an  individual 
something  fair  to  look  upon  and  an  education  which  makes 
the  individual  better  able  to  serve  human  kind.  Let  me 
illustrate  that  to  you  by  two  little  pieces  of  carbon.  Here  is 
the  story  of  the  first  one :  in  a  geological  period  prior  to  our 
own  it  was  fused  at  a  tremendous  heat  and  while  it  was  in 
that  liquid  state  there  fell  upon  it  a  pressure  more  tremendous 
than  the  utmost  resources  of  modern  mechanical  science  can 
produce.  Then  this  piece  of  carbon  began  to  cool.  It  grew 
dark  and  with  this  great  weight  upon  it  each  particle,  one 
after  another,  sought  its  place  in  the  crystal.  It  is  brought  to 
light  at  last — a  diamond — fit  ransom  for  a  king  or  token  from 
the  emperor  to  his  bride.  It  glitters  beautifully.  It  reflects 
from  its  many  facets  the  light  that  falls  upon  it,  but  it  gives 
no  light  itself.  Now  this  other  bit  of  carbon  had  also  its 
•experience.  It  was  ground  to  powder.  It  was  mingled  with 
chemicals.  It  was  manipulated  by  deft  fingers.  It  was  driven 
through  minute  apertures  till  it  became  a  slender  thread.  It 
was    imprisoned    within    a    vacuum    typifying    the    isolation 

56 


Centennial  Celebration 

within  which  dwells  each  human  soul.  Then  it  was  placed 
where  most  it  is  needed,  and.  thrilling  to  the  subtle  currents 
developed  by  a  mighty  power,  it  shines  in  the  dark  places.  It 
gives  out  light  for  the  sons  and  daughters  of  men.  So  the 
two  kinds  of  education  make  the  diamond  or  the  electric 
light.  Both  have  their  functions,  but  for  myself  I  would  rather 
be  able  to  give  light  than  to  refract  it. 

Now  it  seems  to  me  that  is  the  one  great  thing  which  edu- 
cation is  for — to  produce  those  who  will  give  light,  who  will 
brighten  the  darkness  of  life,  who  will  make  brilliant  those 
places  where  mankind  has  been  stumbling  for  years.  It  is 
that,  it  seems  to  me,  which  the  educated  women  and  all  other 
educated  persons  must  do.  Women  have  a  very  special  ser- 
vice to  render  to  society  and  to  this  nation.  It  would  be 
unbecoming  in  me,  a  stranger,  to  undertake  at  sucii  a  time 
as  this  to  say  what  I  may  think  as  to  questions  in  dispute,  but 
I  am  going  this  far  and  say  that  I  do  not  believe  that  really 
for  the  last  two  thousand  years,  since  Jesus  Christ  came,  man's 
attitude  toward  woman  has  been  wrong.  I  believe  in  chivalry, 
in  protection,  in  tenderness,  in  the  Christian  home.  Now  it 
seems  to  me  that  in  these  late  years  our  women  are  being 
sacrificed.  I  do  not  like  to  see  the  great  stream  of  girls  and 
young  women  at  morning  and  night  pour  into  and  out  of  our 
great  dej^artment  stores.  I  do  not  like  to  see  that  long  pro- 
cession of  young  women,  not  so  well  dressed  as  the  others, 
who  morning  and  night  pour  into  and  out  of  our  factories. 
I  believe  that  there  is  something  better  for  them  to  live  for, 
something  more  beautiful.  1  believe  that  tiiey  can  expand 
their  lives  more  nobly,  more  beautifully,  and  more  to  advan- 
tage of  mankind  by  doing  something  else  than  that.  Now  do 
you    ask    me    what?       Upon     my    word     I     do    not    know. 

57 


Albany  Academy  for  Girls 

Don't  you  educated  women  care?  Won't  you  try  to  find  out 
what  is  the  function  of  the  modern  woman  in  the  modern 
world?  That  it  is  to  be  something  different  all  signs  seem  to 
show,  for  we  have  observed  great  changes  in  the  organization 
of  society,  and  changes  which  affect  the  position  and  the  privi- 
leges of  womankind  affect  the  other  half  of  mankind.  Isn't 
that  obvious?  But  what  I  mean  to  say  to  you  is  that  you  chil- 
dren, you  educated  women,  must  find  out  what  the  solution  is 
of  the  problem  which  is  leading  to  so  much  of  unrest  in  these 
days  of  ours,  because,  as  always  has  been  the  case,  what  you 
women  w^ant  you  are  going  to  get.  Xow  what  do  you  w^ant 
and  why  do  you  want  it?  Are  you  satisfied  with  the  perform- 
ances of  your  sisters  in  England?  Is  that  what  you  want? 
I  dare  say  no.  I  am  not  satisfied  with  any  proposition  that 
has  been  made  looking  to  the  change  of  woman's  relation  to 
society.  Are  you  quite  sure  that  you  know  just  what  you 
want?  Are  you  quite  sure  that  you  are  ready  to  submit  to 
sacrifice,  that  you  are  willing  to  devote  your  lives  to  noble 
things ;  are  you  willing  to  grow  up  in  luxur}',  or  are  you  will- 
ing to  put  out  of  your  life  much  of  this  which  is  pleasant, 
because  the  responsibility  of  the  educated  woman  is  one  of 
service?  Oh,  that  is  for  you  to  decide,  and  you  must  do 
something  worth  while,  my  dear  friends. 

Now  I  think  the  history  of  the  education  of  girls  and 
W'Omen  is  going  to  be  something  like  the  history  of  the  edu- 
cation of  boys  and  men.  For  many  years,  perhaps  many 
centuries,  it  was  supposed  that  the  reason  for  the  education 
of  a  boy  or  a  young  man  w-as  to  better  him  as  compared  with 
his  fellows,  to  get  him  out  of  the  common  herd  so  that  he 
would  not  have  to  work  so  hard,  so  that  he  would  not  have 
to  work  so  long,  so  that  he  would  not  have  to  work  so  cheaply. 

58 


Centex xiAL  Celebration 

That  was  supposed  to  be  the  reason  for  educating  him.  Xow 
we  are  beginning  to  find  out  that  you  cannot  expect  a  man  to 
do  anything  worth  while  unless  you  educate  him ;  that  every 
branch  of  employment  that  it  is  worth  while  for  a  man  to 
devote  his  energies  to  is  a  learned  profession.  When  I  was 
in  college  they  used  to  say  there  were  only  three  learned  pro- 
fessions. Why,  there  are  twenty-five  or  thirty  now.  There 
isn't  anything  that  a  man  does  that  he  cannot  do  better  if  he 
is  trained  for  it,  if  he  has  a  school  training  for  it,  and  that 
feeling  is  to  increase  the  appreciation  of  the  uniform  dignity 
of  all  kinds  of  labor.  There  is  not  any  profession  that  is  any 
more  dignified  than  any  other  profession.  There  is  absolutely 
no  more  advantage  in  getting  your  fingers  stained  with  ink 
than  there  is  in  getting  them  stained  with  oil.  The  question 
is  which  man  will  wash  them  first. 

Now  I  think  that  as  we  have  come  to  see  that  education, 
and  a  considerable  amount  of  education,  is  necessary  for  the 
higher  development  of  the  man's  side  of  this  civilization  of 
ours ;  so  too  I  think  that  you  ladies  and  you  girls  have  got  to 
find  out  that  you  also  are  not  educated  in  order  that  you  may 
be  set  aside,  that  you  still  are  in  close  contact  with  those 
women  who  have  not  had  any  such  training,  and  that  you  will 
not  have  a  satisfactory  solution  of  these  diflftculties  until  you 
have  educated  them  too.  In  training  a  girl  for  a  saleswoman 
she  has  got  to  know  the  details  of  a  profession.  I  hope  she 
won't  have  to.  The  factory  girl  has  got  to  understand  mechan- 
ical engineering  if  she  goes  to  work  in  a  factory.  I  hope  she 
won't  have  to  ;  it  is  not  going  to  be  necessary.  Womankind  is  to 
be  the  salvation  of  women  in  society.  You  women  with  mind 
and  education  cannot  pull  yourselves  away  from  your  sisters 
down  in  the  shops  and  factories.     If  you  do  you  are  shirking 

59 


Albany  Academy  for  Girls 

the  highest  responsibility  of  the  educated  woman  of  the  twen- 
tieth century.  Oh,  what  a  beautiful  task  that  is  of  yours,  you 
women  who  are  educated,  to  lift  up  your  own  half  of  the 
human  race,  and  then  lift  us  up  also,  if  you  can.  It  will  be  a 
big  job — a  very  big  job — there  is  no  end  to  it. 

Why,  ladies,  when  I  think  of  what  this  world  might  be, 
when  I  think  it  might  be  so  much  finer,  I  wonder  that  you 
care  so  much  for  four  o'clock  teas.  What  are  you  going  to 
do  with  all  these  sisters  of  yours,  you  educated  women? 
These  are  your  responsibilities.  What  do  you  suppose  God 
and  man  gave  you  education  for?  Just  so  that  you  could 
enjoy  yourselves?  Just  so  that  you  could  have  a  good  time? 
Just  so  that  you  could  appreciate  art  and  science  and  litera- 
ture ?  Don't  think  so  for  a  minute.  It  was  given  to  you  with 
the  prayer  and  with  the  command  that  you  share  it  with  all  the 
others  and  see  that  somehow  it  shall  be  made  to  count  for  the 
lifting  up  of  others,  even  to  those  serene  heights  of  life  in 
which  you  so  contentedly  dwell. 

There  is  no  kind  of  work  that  w^omen  can  do  which  they 
shall  not  be  let  to  do  if  they  want  to.  But  the  beautiful 
things  in  life,  the  sweet  things  in  life,  the  noble,  honorable, 
dignified  things  in  life  which  you  educated  women  can  com- 
municate to  civilization  in  so  many  ways  by  helping  your  own 
sisters  as  well  as  your  own  daughters !  Those  are  the  things 
that  are  going  to  count. 

I  am  glad  to  know  that  this  old,  old  school  has  so  prospered 
during  this  century  that  is  gone.  It  is  a  long  while  and  yet 
there  are  here  and  there  single  lives  that  cover  the  whole  of 
it.     You  are  very  modern  after  all. 

I  have  talked  about  the  past  hundred  years  and  I  will  say 
this  for  the  next  hundred  years — I  don't  want  you  to  think 

60 


Centennial  Celebration 

I  am  only  half  through  my  speech.  I  am  very  nearly  through, 
but  I  am  very  much  concerned  about  the  next  hundred  years. 
I  would  like  to  live  until  2014.  for  I  know  full  well  that  you 
will  get  an  education  here  and  I  hope  for  the  prosperity  of 
this  school  for  all  these  coming  years.  I  know  that  those  of 
you  in  the  little  crowd  here  to  my  left  hand  (the  pupils)  are 
going  to  do  a  good  deal  better  than  we  have  done.  How  I 
should  like  to  see  the  outcome  of  it  all. 

I  don't  know  and  I  don't  care  very  much  whether  women 
vote  or  not.  I  don't  know  and  I  don't  care  very  much  whether 
women  should  take  up  this  profession  or  that  as  a  part  of 
their  work.  I  do  know  and  do  care  very  much  that  women 
who  have  been  educated  in  our  schools  shall  care  for  their 
sisters,  they  shall  lift  up  the  feeble  ones. 

Did  you  ever  think  that  in  all  the  history  of  the  world  the 
sun,  moon  and  stars  have  never  looked  down  on  this  earth 
upon  one  single  nation,  one  single  state,  one  single  city  that 
was  educated ;  not  one  community  that  was  educated,  in  all 
the  history  of  the  w'orld  ?  What  do  you  suppose  it  would  be 
like?  What  would  Albany  or  Hartford  be  like  if  every  man, 
every  woman,  and  every  child  of  sixteen  years  and  upwards 
had  a  thorough  school  training,  the  training  of  the  head,  train- 
ing of  the  hands,  training  of  the  character,  a  thorough  school 
education?  It  would  be  something  different  from  anything 
that  has  ever  existed  on  this  earth.  T  think  it  would  be  some- 
thing better  than  ever  has  existed  on  this  earth.  Now  I  want 
you  educated  women  to  think  about  that  and  consider  if  it  is 
not  worth  while  to  try  to  bring  about  a  time  when  all  your 
sisters  and  all  your  sisters'  little  brothers  shall  be  educated, 
trained,  made  better  citizens  and  citizenesses.  They  should 
know  and  they  should  understand.     You  who  are  educated 

61 


Albany  Academy  for  Girls 

women,  and  upon  whom  rests  so  heavily  the  responsibility  of 
deciding  whether  other  women  shall  be  educated,  should 
decide  what  you  want  as  your  share  in  the  life  of  the  nation, 
and  when  you  do  decide  then  you  will  get  it. 


62 


Cextex n I al  Celebration 


Address 

Governor  Martin  H.  Glynn 

Fifty  years  ago,  on  the  occasion  of  the  fiftieth  anniversary 
of  this  Academy,  Governor  Seymour  was  privileged  to  address 
the  graduating  class.  Fifty  years  later  the  Governor  of  the 
State  finds  himself  honored  by  an  invitation  to  take  part  in 
the  celebration  of  your  hundredth  anniversary. 

Looking  about  me  at  this  galaxy  of  beauty,  grace  and 
charm,  I  cannot  but  feel  that  you  are  discriminating  against 
the  executive  department  of  the  State  government.  Instead 
of  inviting  the  Governor  here  twice  in  a  century,  you  ought  to 
invite  him  twice  in  a  year. 

I  consider  it  an  honor  to  be  present  to-night.  The  fact 
that  you  are  celebrating  the  centennial  of  the  school's  exist- 
ence makes  this  an  important  occasion,  in  this  new  land  of 
ours  there  are  not  many  institutions  which  can  lay  claim  to 
a  century  of  continuous  existence.  The  humorists  assure  us 
that  the  feminine  mind  inclines  to  conceal  age  rather  than  to 
boast  of  it.  I  do  not  believe  that  this  is  a  peculiarly  feminine 
attribute  myself,  but  at  any  rate  the  graduates  of  this  .Academy 
are  perennially  fresh  and  charming,  even  if  the  institution 
which  they  adorn  grows  older  with  the  years. 

The  teachers  and  students  of  this  academy  have  reason  to 
be  proud  of  the  centenary  which  they  celebrate  to-night.  It 
is  not  only  the  centenary  of  the  founding  of  this  particular 
school,  but  it  is  the  centenary  of  the  beginning  of  higher  edu- 
cation for  girls.     It  is  true  that  some  of  the  academies  organ- 

63 


Albany  AciVDEMY  for  Girls 

ized  in  the  last  decades  of  the  eighteenth  century  were  open  to 
girls.  Leicester  Academy,  which  was  founded  in  1784,  and 
Westford,  which  was  started  in  1793,  received  members  of  the 
gentle  sex,  but  these  were  primarily  academies  for  boys  and 
gave  instruction  to  girls  only  as  a  sort  of  complement  to  their 
other  activities ;  but  the  Albany  Academy  properly  enjoys  the 
distinction  of  being  the  first  school  designed  only  for  girls,  as  it 
was  founded  nine  years  before  the  Derry  Academy  in  Xew 
Hampshire,  which  is  accustomed  to  claim  the  distinction  which 
belongs  to  you. 

Not  only  is  your  history  long,  but  it  is  distinguished  as  well. 
There  is  nothing  particularly  admirable  in  age  if  it  has  noth- 
ing to  commend  it  but  its  years.  It  is  only  when  age  can  look 
back  upon  achievement  and  progress  that  it  may  incite  admi- 
ration and  command  respect.  The  progress  of  this  Academy, 
the  friends  it  has  won,  the  distinguished  names  that  are  linked 
with  its  story,  are  eloquent  proof  of  a  century  of  accomplish- 
ment. 

The  academy  has  been  fortunate  in  its  friends,  in  its  teach- 
ers, and  in  its  students,  and  the  best  proof  of  the  worth  of 
the  institution  is  the  affectionate  esteem  in  which  it  has  ever 
been  held  by  those  who  have  graduated  from  its  halls. 

In  its  particular  field,  the  Albany  Academy  has  done  its 
part  in  the  movement  for  the  better  education  of  women. 
A  pioneer  in  this  great  movement,  it  has  maintained  the  high- 
est standards  and  been  worthy  of  the  highest  ideals  of  the 
new  dispensation.  It  can  look  back  with  pride  on  the  trans- 
formation it  has  helped  to  work  during  the  last  century.  It 
can  compare  present  opportunities  for  feminine  development 
with  a  not  distant  past,  in  which  woman  was  looked  upon  as 
unworthy  of  education. 

64 


11  H     rUi;.>F.N  1      I'.l    II.IMM 


Centennial  Celebration 

The  changes  during  the  last  hundred  years  in  the  legal 
rights  of  women,  which  the  lawyers  sum  up  as  the  change 
from  status  to  contract,  have  seen  a  similar  change  in  the 
educational  opportunities  of  women.  To-day  there  is  no 
avenue  of  education  open  to  a  boy  of  which  his  sister  may 
not  avail  herself.  The  world  has  awakened  to  the  needless- 
ness  of  wasting  the  intellects  of  its  girls.  It  has  put  away 
the  notion  that  a  wife  or  mother  is  less  capable  because  her 
mind  has  been  developed,  her  interests  broadened  and  her 
energies  trained,  and  it  has  been  rewarded  by  the  development 
of  such  authors  as  Myra  Kelly,  such  scientists  as  Madam 
Curie  and  such  citizens  as  Jane  Addams.  Samuel  Johnson, 
the  encyclopedic  Englishman,  said  that  a  woman  made  the 
better  wife  and  better  mother  for  being  educated ;  Boswell, 
his  biographer,  contended  she  did  not ;  but,  as  in  nearly  every- 
thing else,  the  world  has  decided  that  Johnson  was  right  and 
Boswell  was  wrong. 

There  is  to  me  no  more  encouraging  sign  of  modern  pro- 
gress, no  more  convincing  proof  of  modern  development  than 
the  position  which  woman  is  now  assuming  in  our  social  and 
economic  life.  Lincoln  said  that  no  nation  could  exist  half 
slave  and  half  free,  and  it  seems  to  me  equally  true  that  no 
nation  can  live  up  to  its  opportunities  which  is  half  educated 
and  half  uneducated,  half  trained  and  half  untrained,  half 
developed  and  half  undeveloped. 

It  is  a  truism  that  a  nation's  welfare  is  founded  on  the  wel- 
fare of  its  homes  and  that  these  homes  are  made  by  the  wives 
and  mothers  who  shed  their  radiance  there.  And  the  wife 
who  has  received  the  benefit  of  a  liberal  education,  who  has 
a  lively  and  intelligent  interest  in  the  broad  world  about  her, 
can  exercise  an  influence  within  the  walls  of  her  home  which 

65 


Albany  Academy  for  Girls 

will  make  it  a  citadel  from  which  soldiers  of  truth  and  right 
may  go  forth  to  battle  and  to  victory. 

The  ideal  woman  is  the  aim  of  the  Albany  Academy  for 
Girls,  and  for  a  hundred  years  this  school  has  tried  to  attain 
what  Holmes  so  gloriously  writes  of  in  the  Autocrat  of  the 
Breakfast  Table,  what  Dickens  portrays  in  the  lovable  char- 
acter of  Agnes  in  David  Copperfield,  and  what  Cowper  sings 
of  in  the  glorious  poem  of  My  Mother's  Picture. 

For  a  hundred  years  this  school  has  gathered  the  knowledge 
blossoms  of  the  ages  and  handed  them  to  her  daughters  with 
plentiful  fruitage.  For  a  hundred  years  this  school  has  nur- 
tured the  garden  of  girlhood  until  it  has  burst  into  the  flower 
of  womanhood.  For  a  hundred  years  this  school  has  gathered 
the  myrrh  of  life  with  the  spice  and  given  to  her  daughters 
the  honeycomb  of  science  with  the  honey  of  art  for  food, 
and  the  wine  of  poetry  with  the  milk  of  morality  for  drink. 
For  a  hundred  years  this  school  has  kept  her  head  among 
the  stars  until  her  tresses  are  moistened  with  heaven's  dew 
and  her  eyes  illuminated  by  heaven's  light.  To-night  we 
crown  the  old  age  of  this  school  with  an  everlasting  youth 
adorned  with  noble  accomplishments.  To-night  we  mingle 
the  youth  and  age  of  this  school  and  watch  them  walk  hand  in 
hand  down  the  corridors  of  time,  more  accomplished  wdth  the 
growing  years,  more  cultivated  through  experience,  more 
wise  by  the  passage  of  time,  and  more  and  more  possessed  of 
the  finest  fruits  of  the  learning  of  the  world. 


66 


Centennial  Celebration 


In  Memory  of  Eben  S.  Stearns 

At  the  Alumnae  Reunion  announcement  was  made  of  a 
gift  to  the  Academy's  Endowment  Fund  of  $2,525.00  in 
memory  of  the  late  Professor  Eben  S.  Stearns,  who  was  prin- 
cipal of  the  school  from  1855  to  1868.  In  grateful  acknowl* 
edgment  of  Mr.  Stearns's  high  service  and  abiding  influence, 
graduates  and  undergraduates  who  had  been  his  pupils  and 
other  friends  joined  heartily  in  this  tribute. 

The  sources  of  the  contributions  were  as  follows: 

Class  of  1857 $50 

Class  of  1859 10 

Class  of  i860 30 

Class  of  1862 45 

Class  of   1863 5 

Class  of  1864 583 

Class  of  1865 20 

Class  of  1866 780 

Class  of  1867 80 

Class  of  1868 36 

Class  of  1869 50 

Class  of  1871 7 

Class  of  1872 10 

Class  of   1873 I 

Class  of  1874 5 

Class  of  1875 I 

From  undergraduates  and  other  friends..  812 

Total S2.525 

67 


Centennial  Celebration 


Albany  Academy  for  Girls 

Founded  1814 

Incorporated  February  16,  1821,  as  Albany  Female  Academy 
(Chap.  53,  Laws  1821) 

Name  changed  to  Albany  Academy  for  Girls  by  Chap.  15,  Laws  1906 

PRESENT  OFFICERS 

Alden  Chester   President 

Miss  Esther  Louise  Camp Principal 

Joseph  A.  Lawson Secretary 

Miss  Esther  Louise  Camp Treasurer 

Dudley  Olcott Treasurer  of  Endowment  Fund 

TRUSTEES 

Dudley  Olcott  Mrs  George  P.  Hilton 

Dr  Samuel  B.  Ward  J.  Townsend  Lansing 

Dr  F.  C.  Curtis  Charles  J.  Buchanan 

Alden  Chester  Joseph  A.  Lawson 

Benjamin  W.  Arnold  Rev.  Chas.  A.  Richmond,  D.  D. 

Mrs  George  Douglas  Miller  Dr  Edgar  A.  Vander  Veer 

William  L.  L.  Peltz 


PRESIDENTS 

Elected 

Chancellor  James   Kent Feb.  27.  1821 

Rev.  John  Chester,  D.  D April  6,  1824 

Rev.    Isaac   Ferris Jan.  29,  1829 

Rev.  John  Ludlow,  D.  D Aug.  — ,  1831 

Rev.  Isaac  Ferris,  D.  D Oct.  3,  1834 

Rev.  John  N.  Campbell,  D.  D April  12,  1836 

Judge  Greene  C.  Bronson Jan.  30,  1843 

I  Ion.  Wm.  L.  Marcy Jan.  28.  1850 

Judge  Amasa  J.   Parker Jan.  31.  1855 

Judge   William   L.    Learned March  4,  1879 

Judge  Alden  Chester April  11,  1904 

69 


Albany  Academy  for  Girls 

PRINCIPALS  £^^^,^^ 

Horace  Goodrich,  A.  M May  — ,  1814 

Rev.  Edwin  James,  A.  M 

Lebbeus  Booth,  A.  M June  26, 1821 

Frederick  Matthews,  A.  M May  i,  1824 

Alonzo  Crittenden,  A.  M Aug.  18,  1826 

L.  Sprague  Parsons,  A.  M July  2,  1845 

Rev.  Eben  S.  Stearns,  A.  M June  5,  1855 

Miss  Caroline  G.  Greely Sept.  i,  1868 

Miss  Lx»uise  Ostrom May  26,  1869 

Wm.  G.  Nowell July  18, 1879 

Miss  Lucy  A.   Plympton Feb.  12,  1880 

Miss  Esther  Louise  Camp April  2, 1901 

SECRETARIES  ^^^^^^^ 

Lebbeus  Booth   Feb.  27, 1821 

Frederick  Matthews   April  6,  1824 

Alonzo  Crittenden   Aug.  8,  1826 

John   Q.   Wilson July  10,  1841 

Alonzo   Crittenden   Aug.  23,  1844 

L.  Sprague  Parsons July  28,  1845 

Eben    S.    Stearns Oct.  3,1855 

WilHam  L.  Learned June  15,  1868 

Miss  Louise  Ostrom Dec.  14,  1870 

John  Templeton  July  18,  1879 

George   Douglas   Miller Dec.  7,  1892 

David  A.  Thompson Jan.  19,  1894 

Joseph   A.  Lawson Jan.  1 1, 191 1 

TREASURERS  ^^^^^.^ 

Asa  H.  Center Feb.  27,  1821 

Richard  M.  Meigs April  4,  1827 

Israel   Smith    May  21.  1839 

Alonzo  Crittenden  May  30,  1842 

L.  Sprague  Parsons April  21,  1846 

Eben  S.  Stearns April  25,  1856 

William   L.   Learned June  — .  1868 

Miss  Louise  Ostrom Dec.  14,  1870 

Wm.  G.  Nowell July  18,  1879 

John  Templeton  Jan.  22.  1880 

Miss  Lucy  A.  Plympton April  7<  1880 

Miss  Esther  Louise  Camp April  11,  1904 

70 


Centennial  Celebration 

TREASURER  OF  ENDOWMENT  FUND 

Dudley  Olcott  April  1 1 .  1904 

TRUSTEES  Elected 

*James  Kent   Feb.  16,  1821 

*John    Chester    Feb.  16,  1821 

*Joseph  Russell    Feb.  16,  1821 

*John  V.   Henry Feb.  16.  1821 

*Asa  H.  Center Feb.  16.  1821 

*Gicleon   Hawley    Feb.  16,  1821 

*William   Fowler   Feb.  16,1821 

*Teunis  Van  Vechten Feb.  16,  1821 

*Peter  Boyd    Feb.  16,  1821 


*  Named  in  Act  of  Incorporation,  Chap.  53,  Laws  1821. 


In  place  of  Elected 

J.  Winne,  Jr James  Kent   April  6. 

E.  F.  Backus John  V.  Henry April  6, 

M.  A.  Duer Wm.  Fowler   April  5, 

Israel  Smith  J.  Winne,  Jr April  5, 

James  Clark M.  A.  Duer April  4, 

Peter  Wendell,  M.  D Asa  H.  Center April  3, 

Dr  Richard  M.  Meigs Teunis  Van  Vechten April  3, 

Rev.  Isaac  Ferris E.  F.  Backus April  8, 

Edwin  Croswell Peter  Wendell,  M.  D April  8. 

Judge  Jacob  Sutherland.. ..  Rev.  John  Chester,  D.  D....  April  7, 

John  T.  Norton Joseph  Russell   April  7, 

Rev.  John  Ludlow,  D.  D...Rev.  Isaac  Ferris,  D.  D....Aug.  3, 

Benjamin  F.  Butler Peter  Boyd    Xpril  3. 

*James  Vanderpocl   April  10, 

*Gen.  Richard  V.  DeWitt April  10. 

*Philip  S.  Van  Rensselaer April  10, 

*Ira   1  larris    April  10, 

Thomas  W.  Olcott Benjamin    F.    Butler April  3. 

Rev.  Isaac  Ferris,  D.  D....Rev.  John  Ludlow,  1).   l)...Oct.  3, 

Rev.  John  N.  Campbell, D.D.John  T.  Norton April  2, 

Ezra  P.  Prentice James  Clark  Oct.  26. 


824 
824 
825 
825 
826 
827 
S27 
S2S 
828 
829 
829 
831 
832 
.^33 
833 
833 
833 
834 
834 
835 
835 


*  Named  in  Chap.  133,  Laws  1833,  to  increase  the  Trustees  from  9 
to  13. 

71 


Albany  Academy  for  Girls 

In  place  of  Elected 

Judge  Greene  C.  Bronson. .  Ezra  P.  Prentice Jan.  14, 

Archibald  Mclntyre Rev.  Isaac  Ferris,  D.  D April  5. 

Ezra  P.  Prentice Judge  Jacob  Sutherland April  5, 

Judge  John  Q.  Wilson Israel    Smith    May  21, 

Rev.  Isaac  N.  Wyckoflf,  D.D.  Judge  James  Vanderpoel.  .  .July  10, 

Mason  F.  Cogswell Archibald   Mclntyre  July  10, 

Rev.  Barth.  F.Welch,  D.D.. Philip   S.   Van   Rensselaer.  .July  10, 

Rev.  Horatio  Potter,  D.  D..  Gideon    Hawley,    LL.D Feb.  11, 

Hon.  Wm.  L.  Marcy R.  M.  Meigs Jan.  30, 

Rev.  Wm.  B.  Sprague,  D.  D.  Rev.  Jno.  N.  Campbell,  D.  D.Jan.  30, 

Rev.  Duncan  Kennedy Rev.  Horatio  Potter,  D.  D..Jan.  30. 

James  M^Naughton,  M.  D..  Dr  Mason  F.  Cogswell Jan.  30, 

Marcus  T.  Reynolds Richard  V.    DeWitt April  i, 

Harmon  Pumpelly  Ezra  P.  Prentice April  i, 

Gen.  John  Taylor  Cooper..  Hon.  Wm.  L.  Marcy April  7, 

Judge  Amasa  J.  Parker Gen.  John  Taylor  Cooper..  .April  4, 

Hon.  Wm.  L.  Marcy Rev.  B.  W.  Welch,  D.  D. .  .April  11. 

Gen.  John  Taylor  Cooper. .  Hon.  Greene  C.  Bronson. .  .Jan.  28, 

James  H.  Armsby,  M.  D. . .  Edwin  Croswell   April  3, 

Rev.  Eben  S.  Stearns,  A.  M.  Rev.   Duncan  Kennedy Nov.  19, 

Amos  Dean    Hon.  Wm.  L.  Marcy April  6, 

Erastus  D.   Palmer Marcus   T.    Reynolds Oct.  19, 

Judge  Wm.  L.  Learned.  . . .  John  Q.  Wilson April  8, 

Arthur  Bott  Amos  Dean   June  22. 

Gen.John  Meredith  Read,Jr.  Rev.  Eben   S.  Stearns Dec.  28, 

Rev.  Anson  J.  Upson,  D.  D.Rev.  Wm.  B.  Sprague Dec.  14, 

Rev.  Henry  Darling,  D.  D.  Gen.  J.  Meredith  Read Dec.  14, 

Rev.  Joachim  Elmendorf  ..  Rev.  Dr  Wyckoff Dec.  14. 

Rev.  Rufus  W.  Clark,  D.  D.Rev.  Anson  J.   Upson Oct.  9, 

Rev.  Wm.  S.  Smart.  D.  D. .  Rev.  Joachim   Elmendorf. .  .Oct.  9, 

Rev.  Irving  Magee,  D.  D.. .  Dr  Jas.  McNaughton Oct.  9. 

John  Templeton    Ira  Harris    April  11, 

Wm.  M.  Van  Antwerp Dr  Jas  H.  Armsby April  11, 

Dr  Samuel  B.  Ward Judge  Amasa  J.  Parker March  4, 

Dr  Jacob  S.  Mosher Gen.  John  Taylor  Cooper.  .March  4, 

Dudley  Olcott  Wm.  M.  Van  Antwerp March  4, 

Archibald  McClure   Erastus   D.    Palmer Feb.  12. 

Rev.  James  H.  Ecob,  D.  D.  Thomas  W.  Olcott April  27, 

Rev.  Henry  M.  King,  D.  D.Harmon   Pumpelly    April  27. 

George  G.  Davidson Rev.  Rufus  W.  Clark.  D.  D.April  27, 

Benjamin  W.  Arnold Jacob  S.  Mosher,  M.  D April  27, 

John  G.  ]\Iyers Archibald   IMcClure   April  27, 


Centennial  Celebration 

Ifi  place  of  Elected 

George  W.  Kirchwey Arthur  Bott  April  27, 1889 

Rev.  A. V.V. Raymond, D.D.  Rev.  Henry  Darling.  D.  D..Feb.  12,1892 

Dr  F.  C.  Curtis Rev.  Wm.  S.  Smart,  D.  D.  .Feb.  12,  1892 

David  A.  Thompson Rev.  Irving  Magee,  D.  D. .  .Feb.  12,  1892 

Acors  Rathbone John  Templeton  Feb.  12,  1892 

George  Douglas  Miller. ...  Rev.  Henry  IM.  King,  D.  D..Feb.  12.  1892 

Francis  C.  Huyck B.  W.   Arnold Feb.  12,1892 

Edward  McKinney   George  W.   Kirchwey Feb.  12,1892 

Henry  Patton   George    G.    Davidson Dec.  7,  1892 

Henry  P.  Warren Edward   McKinney   April  4,1893 

George  G.  Davidson Henry  P.  Warren Jan.  19, 1894 

Judge  Alden  Chester Rev.  Jacob  H.  Ecob,  D.  D.  .March  27,  1897 

Benjamin  W.  Arnold Rev.  A.  V.  V.  Raymond, D.D.March  27,  1897 

Mrs  George  Douglas  Miller.  George  Douglas  Miller May  15,1900 

Mrs  George   P.   Hilton. ...  John  G.   Myers May  15.1900 

J.  Townsend  Lansing George  G.  Davidson Oct.  29,  1902 

Charles  J.  Buchanan Acors  Rathbone   Oct.  29.  1902 

Joseph  A.  Lawson Judge  William  L.  Learned.. Oct.  11.  1904 

Rev. Chas. A. Richmond.D. D.Francis  C.   Huyck Oct.  9,1907 

Dr  Edgar  A.  Vander  Veer.  Henry  Patton   Jan.  11,  1911 

William  L.  L.  Peltz David  A.  Thompson May  16,  1914 


73 


Albany  Academy  for  Girls 
THE  TRUSTEES 

OF   THE 

ALBANY  ACADEMY  FOR  GIRLS 

FORMERLY 

THE  ALBANY  FEMALE  ACADEMY 

REQUEST  THE   HONOR  OF   YOUR  PRESENCE   AT   THE 

CENTENNIAL  CELEBRATION  OF  THE  SCHOOL 

May  Thirty-first,  June  First  and  Second 

nineteen  hundred  and  fourteen 


PROGRAMME 

School  Sunday,  May  31st,  Service  5  p.  m.,  Study  Hall 

Sermon  by  the  Rev.  Charles  A.  Richmond,  D.  D. 
Alumnae  Breakfast,  June  ist,  i  p.  m..  Ten  Eyck  Hotel 

Historical  Address  by  Miss  Grace  Perry 
Centennial  Celebration,  June  ist,  8  p.  m. 

Auditorium  of  State  Education  Building 
One  hundredth  Commencement,  June  2nd,  11  a.  m. 

Auditorium  of  State  Education  Building 
Speaker,  Rev.  Samuel  McChord  Crothers,  D.  D. 
Reception  for  visiting  Alumnae,  June  2nd.  from  4  until  6  p.  m. 
Hostesses — Mrs  William  Law  Learned 
Mrs  George  Douglas  Miller 
Loan  Exhibition,  June  ist  and  2nd,  Alumnae  Room 


SCHOOL  SUNDAY 

Processional  Hymn 

"  Onward  Christian  Soldiers  " 

Bible  Lesson 

Anthem — Ave  Varum 

Prayer 

Lord's  Prayer 

Hymn 

"  Softly  Now  the  Light  of  Day  " 

Sermon 

Rev.  Charles  A.  Richmond,  D.  D. 

Anthem — "  I  Waited  for  the  Lord  " 

Benediction 

Recessional  Hymn 

"  Savior  again  to  Thy   Dear  Name  We  Raise ' 

74 


Centennial  Celebration 
Alumnae  Breakfast 

Centenary  Celebration  of  Albany  Academy  for  Girls,  June  i,  1914 

PROGRAM 

President's  Greeting Mrs  George  Porter  Hilton 

By  Mrs  George  Douglas  Miller 

Presentation  of  the  Class  of  1914 Miss  Esther  Louise  Camp 

President's  Address Read  by  Mrs  George  Douglas  Miller 

Presentation  of  the  Portrait  of  Mrs  Foot By  Mrs  W.  H.  Arnold 

Great  Granddaughter  of  Mrs  Foot 

Song,  "  The  Old  and  the  New  " Mrs  David  Brainerd  Hunt 

(Ida  A.  McKinney,  '71) 

Historical   Address Miss   Grace   Perry 

Report  of  Betsey  Foot  Chapter  of  New  York.  .Mrs  R.  W.  Montgomery 
(Millie  Brown,  '83) 

Greeting Miss  Lucy  A.  Plympton 

The  Endowment  Fund Mrs  George  Porter  H ilton 

(Jessie  K.  Myers,  '76) 

Signing  of  Parchment  Roll 

Alumnae  Song Mary  C.  Topp,  '65 

"  Happy  are  we  met,  happy  have  we  been, 
Happy  may  we  part,  and  happy  meet  again." 

OFFICERS   OF   THE  ALUMNAE   ASSOCIATION 

1913-1914 

Mrs  George  Porter  Hilton President 

(Jessie  K.  Myers,  '76) 

Miss  Katharine   Porter,   '09 Secretary 

Miss  Winifred  Boyce,  '07 Treasurer 

1914-1915 

Mrs  James  W.  Canaday,  Jr President 

(Mary  Rider,  '08) 

Miss  Katharine  Porter,  '09 Secretary 

Miss  Winifred  Boyce,  '07 Treasurer 

75 


Albany  Academy  for  Girls 

Albany  Academy  for  Girls 
Centennial  Celebration,  Education  Building,  June  i,  1914,  8  p.  m. 


PROGRAM 
Music 

Invocation 

Music 

Greeting  from  New  York  State  Department  of  Education 

Historical  Address — ^Justice  Alden   Chester 

(President  of  the  Board  of  Trustees) 

Music 

Address — "  The  Responsibilities  of  Educated  Women  " 

Flavel   S.   Luther,   LL.D.,    President  of   Trinity   College 

Music 

Address — Governor  Martin  H.  Glynn 

Music 


76 


Centennial  Celebration 

Albany  Academy  for  Girls 
Centennial  Commencement,  Education  Building,  June  2,  1914 

Program 

Processional — March    from    Tannhaiiser Wagner 

Invocation Rev.  William   H.  Hopkins,  D.  D. 

Address Rev.   Samuel  McChord  Crothers 

The   Spinning  Chorus — Flying   Dutchman Wagner 

Sweet  Rose — By  The  Glee  Club German 

Presentation  of  Diplomas Hon.  Alden  Chester 

Benediction 

Recessional    Kipling- DeKoven 


Class  of  1914 

Catherine  M.   Bacon Albany,  N.  Y. 

Helen   M.   Brandow Albany,  N.  Y. 

Dorothy   Brate   Albany,  N.  Y. 

Margaret   Brate    Albany.  N.  Y. 

Margaret  C.  Burton Cooperstown,  N.  Y. 

Helen  G.   Chrysler Albany,  N.  Y. 

Sue   B.   Craig Greencastle.  Pa. 

Alice  S.   Elmendorf Albany,  N.  Y. 

Enid  W.   Elmendorf Albany,  N.  Y. 

Helen  M.  Fitzsimmons Albany,  N.  Y. 

Isabelle  Gilmore    Albany,  N.  Y. 

Frances  K.  Gleason Albany,  N.  Y. 

Anna  L.  Hobbs Albany,  N.  Y. 

Frances  L.   Kellogg Menands,  N.  Y. 

Eleanor  B.    Newton Albany,  N.  Y. 

Betty  Palm  er   Canaan.  N.  Y. 

Catherine  W.   Peltz Albany.  N.  Y. 

Helen   R.   Sutherland .Mbany,  N.  Y. 

Miriam    A.    Sweet Elbridge,  N.  Y. 

Eleanor  Todd    Katonah,  N.  Y. 

Sarah  E.  Van  I>e  Carr East  Greenbush,  N.  Y. 

Julia  O.  Wells Albany,  N.  Y. 

Ruth   B.   Wing Menands,  N.  Y. 

n 


Albany  Academy  for  Girls 

Honors 

Margaret  Brate   First  Honor 

Catherine  W.   Peltz Second  Honor 

Catherine  M.   Bacon] 

Margaret  C.    Burton  \- Third  Honor 

Eleanor  Todd  J 

College  Certificates 

Catherine  M.   BaconJ Wells  College 

Anna  Hobbs  f 

Margaret  Brate  | Vassar  College 

Sue  B.  Craig  ( 

Eleanor   Todd Wellesley   College 

Gladys   Smiley Teachers'  College,  New  York 

Katherine  Shelly Simmons  College 


78 


Centennial  Celebration 


THE  OLD  AND  NEW 

[An  orchestra  in  the  mezzanine  balcony  played  the  old  Academy 
songs  which  the  company  sang.  Among  them  were  "  The  Old  and 
New,"  written  by  Mrs  David  Brainerd  Hunt  (Ida  McKinney),  as  a 
toast  for  the  presentation  of  the  Betsey  Foot  portrait  by  Mrs  W.  H. 
Arnold  of  New  York.] 


Years  cannot  bury  hearts,  my  dears,  nor  quelling  silence  lay 

Its  hand  upon  the  old  time  songs,  the  songs  of  yesterday. 

So  in  our  hearts  we'll  keep  our  songs  and  bind  them  in  with  Blue, 

Where,  fastened  with  our  Golden  Star  their  message  they'll  renew. 

Chorus 

O,  the  girls  of  long  ago,  and  the  maidens  of  to-day. 

They  are  meeting,  they  are  greeting,  in  the  old  familiar  way! 

For  the  glove  of  latest  fashion  holds  no  warmer  grasp  a  bit, 

Than  the  hand  that  clasped  its  neighljor  in  the  old  lace- fashioned  mitt. 

The  Loveliness  of  Trees  in  Bloom  has  just  the  same  dear  ring. 
And  Alma  Acadcmia  with  dignity  we  sing: 
The  loyalty  of  old  and  new,  may  never  change  we  pray, 
May  the  century  in  passing  mold  the  spirit  of  to-day. 

Chorus 

O,  the  girls  of  long  ago,  and  the  maidens  of  to-day. 

They  are  meeting,  they  are  greeting,  in  the  old  familiar  way ! 

For  the  glove  of  latest  fashion  holds  no  warmer  grasp  a  bit, 

Than  the  hand  that  clasped  its  neighbor  in  the  old  lace-fashioned  mitt. 


With  labor's  chisel  in  our  hand,  we'll  pay  the  debt  we  owe. 

And  grave  full  deep  in  Learning's  Wall  one  name — that  name  we  know. 

So  sing,  my  dears,  make  melody  while  wo  this  toast  acclaim, 

Let  every  throat  be  full  of  song  when  Betsey  Foot  we  name. 


79 


Albany  Academy  for  Girls 


Faculty 


1912-1913 

Miss  Esther  Louise  Camp 
History  of  Art  and  Bible  History 

Miss  Ada  S.  Blake,  A.  B. 

(Radcliffe) 

English 

Miss  Ellen  C.  Keates,  A.  B. 

(Mt.  Holyoke) 

Latin  and  Greek 

Miss  R.  Pauline  Wilson,  B.  S. 

(Teachers'  College,  Columbia) 

Mathematics  and  Science 

Miss  Julia  W.  McCormick,  A.  B. 

(Cornell) 

History 

Mademoiselle  Julia  A.  Viet 

(Brevet  Superieur) 
French 

Miss  Hilda  B.  Edwards,  B.  A. 

(Smith  College) 

German 

Miss  Marion  Van  Slyck 

(Los  Angeles  Normal  School) 

Pre-Academic  Department 

Miss  Florence  G.  Jones 

(New  York  State  Normal  College) 

Assistant 

Miss  Jessie  D.  Fox 

(Yonkers  Training  School) 
Assistant 

80 


Centennial  Celedkation 
Faculty 

(Continued) 

Miss  Leigh  W.  Palmer 

(Miss  Whcelock's  Training  School,  Boston) 

Assistant 

Miss  Sylvia  B.  L.  Gersbach 

(Albany  Academy  for  Girls) 

Assistant 

Miss  Charlotte  Whittemore 

(Department  of  Hygiene  and  Physical  Education.  Wcllesley) 

Physical  Training 

Miss    WlLHELMINA    W.    PhELPS 

(Teachers'   College,   Columbia  University) 
Drawing  and  Painting 

Miss  Laeta  Hartley 

(Pupil  of  Wager  Swayne  and  Harold  Bauer) 

Piano 

Miss  Beatrice  Pinkney  Jones 
(Pupil  of  Ernest  Hutcheson  and  Edwin  Farmer) 

Assistant 

Frank  Sill  Rogers.  Mus.  Doc. 

(Dresden  Conservatory  of  Music) 

(Royal  College  of  Organists,  London) 

I'oicc  CnllKre  and  Choral  Singing 

Miss  Helen  W.  Palmer 

Secretary 

Mrs  Jessalvn  A.  Taylor 
House  Mother 


8i 


Albany  Academy  for  Girls 


PUBLICATION  COMMITTEE 

Mrs  William  Law  Learned 
Miss  Blanche  C.  Austin         Mrs  George  Douglas  Miller 
Mrs  Frederic  C.  Curtis  Mrs  Augustus  S.  Brandow 


Miss  Grace  Perry,  Historian 


82 


UNIVERSITY  OF  CALIFORNIi 

AT 

LOS  ANGELES 

UBRARY 


UC  SOUTHERN  REGIONAL  LIBRARY  FACILITY 


AA    001  181  718    6 


